This is a subscriber-only article
Spring calving is underway, and on farms that are unlikely to get cows out to grass for at least another month, make sure these animals are well fed to drive milk production and maintain body condition. Outlined are five tips to managing cows after calving.
Feed good-quality silage and keep it fresh
Freshly-calved cows should be fed the best silage on-farm. In the run-up to calving, many farmers will offer dry cows average-quality fodder in order to save better-quality silage to feed post-calving.
Ideally, cows should be fed silage with a feed value above 70 DMD. At the very least, silage should be better than average (67 to 69 DMD) and balanced with concentrates.
Lower-quality silage should not be fed to freshly-calved cows, as higher concentrate levels will be required.
Even then, cows are more likely to lose body condition, as the diet is unlikely to meet nutritional demand. This impacts negatively on cow fertility.
So, make a point of feeding good silage and offer a fresh allocation every day to encourage higher intakes. Rejected silage can be removed and fed to stores or dry cows on the point of calving.
Concentrate feeding
Freshly-calved cows have a growing requirement for energy as milk production increases, so concentrates will be required.
When feeding concentrates, it is important that all cows can access the feed face at the same time. If not, there will be bullying and shy cows will be underfed.
Grouping cows based on body condition or type can overcome this issue. For example, keep first-calved heifers together as a group and the same goes with older, thinner cows.
For good-quality silage around 70 to 72 DMD, cows should be fed 1kg to 1.5kg/day of ration. For silage at 67 to 69 DMD, feed 2kg/day.
For silage down at 65 DMD, fibre content will be high. Therefore, intakes and digestibility will be much lower, so concentrates need to be increased to at least 3kg/day.
Water
Fresh water intake is crucial for lactating animals, so make sure cows have ad-lib access to water troughs. Keep troughs clean. Silage or dung in water troughs will lower intakes.
Keep cows clean and bedded
On most farms, cows usually go back on to slats after calving until they can go to grass. Use a hand scraper to clean slats at least once a day to help keep udders clean. Clipping tails can also keep cows cleaner, which improves calf health.
Ideally, calves should be offered a clean, dry bedded creep area for lying and this will reduce the exposure to scour pathogens as stocking density in sheds increases.
Slipping cows out to grass when possible
As soon as weather and ground conditions allow, start slipping cows with calves out to grass. Fresh grass and fresh air are the best remedy to a lot of the problems caused in the first four steps outlined.
If grass supply or ground conditions will only carry a handful of cows, give priority to older cows in poor body condition and first calved heifers. Fit cows in good condition can be slipped out later in the spring as grass growth picks up.
SHARING OPTIONS: