HERD HEALTH

With most animal welfare audits currently assessing bodily injuries to our dairy cows, there is growing interest into their causation and significance.

Over the last decade, dairy production, on average, in Canada has been increasing and shows no signs of slowing down. This increase in production, however, brings its share of challenges and often places dairy animals under a lot of stress.

The transition period is the most critical period for a successful lactation. Many factors play a crucial role in the success of this period, such as comfort and ventilation, the overall health of the animals, the quality of the feed served, as well as the feeding strategy used.

The ideal pre-fresh period is 21 days. Too much corn silage makes heifers fat. Excess dietary salt causes udder edema. The younger the age at first calving, the better.

As we move forward as a society, the dairy industry will continue to have to justify the use of antibiotics on their operations. On a dairy, mastitis treatment is one of the most prevalent areas where antibiotics are used, especially when it comes to dry cow mastitis treatment.

Ask any producer who consistently feeds close-up dry cows a negative-DCAD diet if it makes a difference for transition cows, and the answer will be yes.