Dry cow therapy: A prescription for success

Julia Hollister for Progressive Dairy

Mastitis can spell disaster for dairy farmers. This potentially fatal mammary gland infection is the most common disease in dairy cattle in the U.S. and worldwide.

But a treatment – dry cow therapy – has proven to be effective.

“Blanket dry cow therapy is a management practice implemented in the late 1960s as part of the five points plan to control mastitis,” said Fernanda Ferreira, population health and reproduction specialist at University of California – Davis. “The main objective was to treat infections that have low cure rates if treated during lactation and to prevent new cases of mastitis during the dry period.”

See how selective dry cow therapy can decrease somatic cell counts.

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Transitions are tough. Make them easier.

Essential nutrition for supporting transition cow health

Ricardo Rodriguez for Progressive Dairy

Transition cows get a lot of attention in the herd, as the transition period brings significant challenges.

For dairy cows, the transition period is typically the last three weeks of gestation and the first three weeks of lactation, during which cows undergo a variety of metabolic and immunological changes that increase their susceptibility to metabolic disorders and infectious diseases. During this time, metabolic demands (i.e., nutritional requirements) increase so the cow can support fetal growth during late gestation and the subsequent onset and maintenance of lactation. However, cows are often unable to consume enough feed to meet increased nutritional requirements, so they enter a state of negative nutrient balance. More specifically, transition cows undergo a period of sustained negative energy balance that leads to losing bodyweight and body condition score.

Formulate diets to fight transition cow stress from the inside out.

[Podcast] The Culture Code book review with dairyman Derek Orth

Editor-in-chief Walt Cooley and Wisconsin dairyman Derek Orth discuss The Culture Code by Daniel Coyle and how the principles in the book could be applied to dairy farm and employee management.

Listen and subscribe.

A tale of two fat studies: Palmitic fatty acid supplementation in early lactation cows

Alois Kertz for Progressive Dairy

In a previous article, it was noted that high-palmitic-fatty-acid (>80%) supplements most often decrease dry matter intake (DMI). And, since many studies with that type supplement have been done with mid-lactation cows over a short term (21 days), it raises the question as to what would be the response in early lactation cows?

Such a study was done in two phases: for the first 24 days, and then for the following 42 days. That takes cows just past seven weeks post-calving. Fifty-two cows (no first-calf heifers) were fed either a control no-fat supplement diet or 1.5% of a palmitic (PA) fat supplement. That was followed for the next 42 days (six weeks) with each treatment group split in half into four different treatment groups with cows either being on the same supplement as they had been on during the first 24 days or on the other treatment, which they had not been on. Thus, there were only 13 cows per treatment group during the second phase.

Learn about the benefits of palmitic and stearic fatty acids for early lactation cows.

10 innovators take the digital stage to transform the livestock industry

Ten international animal ag-tech startups will pitch their innovative technologies at the virtual Animal AgTech Innovation Summit on Sept. 14.

Learn more about these agtech companies.

Fine-tuning dry cow Goldilocks diets

Michael Hutjens for Progressive Dairy

The Goldilocks dry cow diet was developed by the University of Illinois under the leadership of Dr. Jim Drackley and his research team.

The initial term was based on the children’s book Goldilocks and The Three Bears as it related to Goldilocks making choices. In your dry cow feeding program, balancing nutrient intake for the pregnant cow, the unborn calf and colostrum synthesis is key to transition cow program success, milk production in early lactation and fertility. Table 1 compares an example of a Goldilocks dry cow ration feed ingredients to a traditional higher-energy dry cow ration.

4 decisions to make regarding Goldilocks dry rations