Dry Cow Management Tips from the LKL Conference
Will Tulley and Dylan Pinker spoke at this year's National Herdspersons conference hosted by LKL at Harper Adams College. Here are some of their dry cow management tips that featured...
The dry period whilst an opportunity for some body tissues to recover and regenerate for the next lactation it’s also a vital period to set cows and heifers up for the following lactation, with profound effects on subsequent health, production and fertility. Cow’s nutrient requirements increase hugely at and around calving, requiring significant metabolic changes, and nutrition and management in the dry and transition period have a huge effect on success rates.
Here are some points to think about from the LKL conference:-
- Stress causing activation of the immune system underlies many transition cow failures.
- Think about the cow's environment to minimise stress.
- Straw chop length and mix consistency matter, particularly in high straw dry cow diets.
These only work if the cows can’t sort. - Body condition and mobility score the cows at dry off.
- Note any significant health events in the previous lactation and monitor this and the previous point throughout the period.
- Consider a secure and easy way to achieve the correct balance of Calcium through X-Zelit.
Your local Ruminant Specialist at Advanced Nutrition can speak to you about transition management - ask them how to de-stress your system for improved transition performance.
〈 BACK
