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Home » Diets that Work » How to assess if your dry cow ration is working effectively – FarmersWeekly

The success of early lactation performance, metabolic disorders, udder health and fertility are all linked to the diet fed during the dry period.

Although a ration may look adequate on paper, it is important to check it is the diet being consumed.

Feed sorting, for example, will affect nutrient intake. Therefore, regular checks are necessary both in the dry period, at calving and post-calving to ensure the diet is doing its job.

Sean Hughes from Shropshire Farm Vets gives advice on how to assess whether your dry cow ration is working effectively.

See also: 5 key considerations when feeding minerals to dairy cows

Why it matters

The primary aim of dry cow feeding is to maintain body condition, maximise mammary development and prime the immune system.

How to assess it, and targets

The target daily intakes for Holstein cattle in the close-up dry period should be 12-14kg of dry matter (DM).

It is hard to assess individual intakes, so this needs to be assessed on a group basis. It may be time consuming to weigh feed in and out, but it can tell you a lot about whether your cows are eating enough, if they are sorting food and getting the correct dietary balance.

You can also sieve the leftover ration which can tell you if chop length it is correct.

Troubleshooting problems

Feed intake can be affected by:

Why it matters

Rumen fill scores are a good indication of nutritional status of the animal.

See also: Video guide to carrying out rumen fill scores

It quantifies the intake of feed and its rate of passage of feed over the previous few hours.

How to assess, and targets

Cows can be scored at any time of the day. However, its best to score at random times to give you an overall impression of rumen fill throughout the day. The ideal score varies for different breeds, however dry cows should score either 4 or 5 (see below).

Ideally, rumen fill scores should be conducted after a change in the diet. This may not mean a change of ingredients, but rather a change in the silage clamp being used, or batch of straw, for example.

Score 4= The skin under the lumbar vertebrae curves outwards. No para lumber fossa is visible behind the last rib.

Score 5= The lumbar vertebrae are not visible as the rumen is well filled. The skin over the whole belly is quite tight. There is no visible transition between the flank and ribs.

Troubleshooting problems

See troubleshooting problems associated with intakes above.

Why it matters

A rumen audit can help assess whether a diet is working efficiently in order to maximise production and avoid health issues.

See also:How to carry out cow muck assessments

How to assess, and targets

Troubleshooting problems

If a problem is found it is most likely diet related. If the starch is too high in the diet, this can cause acid loading.

Why it matters

Blood tests taken in the dry period and post calving can tell you a lot about the energy, protein and mineral status of an animal and will give you an overall picture at a herd level.

How to assess, and targets

Troubleshooting problems

If the mineral status isnt correct, go back to the drawing board and look at the diets mineral availability from forages and additional ingredients.

Ketosis occurs in cattle when energy demands (e.g. high milk production) exceed energy intake and result in a negative energy balance. Ketotic cows often have low blood glucose (blood sugar) concentrations.

If you are getting high levels of ketones in blood tests or ketotic cows, then you need to address the energy availability or intakes in either the dry cow ration or fresh cow ration.

See troubleshooting problems associated with intakes for more detail.

Kathy Horniblow

Why it matters

Noting down any issues that occur at or around calving will help you quantify if there are any problems.

Clinical milk fever is one of the biggest issues at calving and is associated with the ration in the dry period.

Other conditions affected by the transition diet include dystocia (calving difficulties), retained foetal membranes, metritis, ketosis, left displaced abomasum and mastitis.

How to assess, and targets

Regularly check your records to see if there are any trends and that your levels are not exceeding the targets. Targets are:

Troubleshooting problems

Milk fever: The transition diet should prime the cow ready for calving. If the DCAB is too high (positive) it can affect calcium metabolism from the bones.

By adding anionic salts such as magnesium chloride to the dry cow ration you acidify the blood, making calcium more readily available at the point of calving.

The other issues can also be diet linked. If a cow is in negative energy balance at calving and calcium levels are low, then her immune system will struggle, predisposing her to the conditions mentioned above.

Using a refractometer to assess cattle performance Billypix

Why it matters

More than half of calf deaths occur with the first six weeks of life and can often be associated with poor colostrum quality and intake as well as disease.

See also:Rethinking cattle performance video: How to use a refractometer to test colostrum quality

How to assess, and targets

The target is <3% calf mortality. Good record-keeping is essential to monitor this at a herd level.

Its important to assess colostrum quality, this can be done by using a Brix refractometer. High-quality colostrum can be defined as having at least 50g/L IgG with a reading above 22% on a refractometer.

You can also take bloods from calves within the first days of life to assess the absorption of antibodies from the colostrum.

Troubleshooting problems

The process of colostrum production begins several weeks before calving. During this time, large amounts of immunoglobulins (IgG) (antibodies) are transferred from the bloodstream of the cow into colostrum.

Mineral and nutrient status during the dry period will influence colostrum quality. Assessing colostrum quality and passive transfer will highlight potential transition issues.

Stress and disease can also affect colostrum production. It is important dry cows remain in stable groups, as changing the social environment throughout the dry period can impact intakes and increase stress.

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How to assess if your dry cow ration is working effectively - FarmersWeekly

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Home » Diets that Work » How to assess if your dry cow ration is working effectively – FarmersWeekly