There is always a great temptation to milk cows on to generate cashflow at the end of the year. However, calving down cows at the right body conditions score (BCS) is vital to getting the most out of your herd next year and minimising problems next spring.

There are only 12 weeks until 1 February and the beginning of the calving season for most. If you haven’t dried off any cows yet, it’s certainly time to start.

Poor milk yield

Cows that are dried off thin generally calve down thin. Cows that calve down thin will have a poor milk yield for the lactation and will have a lower chance of going in-calf.

Cows need to be dried off according to BCS and calving date. The quality of your silage will also have an effect on how long cows may need to be dried off.

It takes cows one month on good-quality silage (68DMD to 72DMD) to gain one body condition score. Every one BCS is equal to 50kg body weight.

Any cows calving in early February and at a BSC of 2.75 or less should be dried off this week

If we take that the cow gains no condition for the first two weeks after drying off and the last two weeks before she calves down, it’s safe to say there is four weeks where the cow won’t be gaining any condition.

So taking that we want cows to calve down at a BCS of 3.25, cows that are at 2.75 BCS today need to gain two BCS, so they will need a total of 12 weeks dry.

Any cows calving in early February and at a BSC of 2.75 or less should be dried off this week. Cows at a BCS of 3.0 would ideally get 10 weeks dry.

Gaining condition

It is very important that first-lactation animals get a minimum of a 12-week dry period. First-lactation animals are still growing and don’t meet their full mature weight until their second lactations, so gaining condition on these animals is harder.

Ideally, first-lactation animals would be housed over the dry period separate to the main herd. However, in most cases, this doesn’t happen and with the majority of sheds lacking in feed space, it’s the younger and weaker animals that can suffer.

Given that the first-lactation cows have the best genetic in most herds, giving them that little longer dry period is well worth it.

Any calving in early February should be dried off soon and, if possible, housed separate to the main herd.