Herd Health

Not long ago, my colleague Chip and I visited a 600-cow dairy farm in Texas that was looking for some help. They were struggling with these things:

Often, when I visit a farm to troubleshoot an incident of poor transition cow performance, I hear the comment, “Things had been going so well until now. What might have changed with my anionic supplement?”

The dry period is essential for dairy cows to allow for regeneration of milk-secreting tissue and prepare the udder for optimal success in the next lactation.

As dairy farmers have likely noticed, long-lasting intramammary antibiotics (also called dry cow tubes) are in very tight supply this year. While not much can be done about the current shortage, it leads to the question of alternatives.

With lameness costing an estimated $380 to $825 per cow, hoof health cannot be overstated. Treatment costs, decreased fertility, loss of milk yield, decreased longevity in the herd as well as labour costs are all contributing factors.

With a hoof care career that has spanned over 40 years, you could say I have seen a thing or two when it comes to hoof health products. This is especially true in the last 20 years as foot hygiene has become a critical success factor for many dairy operations.