Well bred, well fed and well managed
All animals should get the proper level of feeding and their feed should be properly balanced. Farmers should be aware of the quality of their feed, and also of the condition that is required by their animals for best performance. Silage quality should be assessed, cows should be condition scored, and replacement stock should be closely examined.
Preparation of cows for the following season should begin when cows are dried off in the autumn. They should be at a suitable condition score (CS 3 to 3.5) throughout the dry period. Good quality silage will be adequate for cows, but this may have to be restricted (with some straw), or supplemented with concentrates if cows are too fat or too thin. All cows should get high quality dry cow minerals for six weeks before calving. These minerals should be spread evenly on silage a few times per day.
Feeding concentrates to high yielding cows before calving — known as transition feeding — is recommended.
* Accurate Feeding: Dry cows should get as much individual attention as possible so they will all calve down at the proper condition score and in good health.
Any cow showing signs of lameness or ill health should receive veterinary attention.
A clean straw-bedded maternity area where cows can be removed to coming up to calving, with a calving camera is very useful.
* Intake Reduction: It is very important for farmers to realise that in the four weeks coming up to calving, the silage intake of cows drops off by 30% to 50%.
After calving, milk yield increases much more rapidly than intake capacity, resulting in a long period of under-feeding.
Peak milk yield is reached in about six weeks after calving, while peak appetite is not reached for about 12 weeks. Even on good quality grass, a cow’s intake is only 10kg/day in the first week after calving, and it increases by 1kg/week for the following six or seven weeks.
Cows should therefore get concentrates for at least the first six weeks of lactation.
Low intake after calving is not as serious in low yielding cows, but can have a serious effect on higher yielding herds, especially if forage quality is only average or poor. In Moorepark farm trials, excessive weight loss between calving and breeding has been shown to be the major cause of infertility. Cows losing less than 0.4 of a condition score between calving and breeding have more than double the conception rate of those losing 0.5 of a condition score or over.
The feeding of 2 to 3kg of concentrates to high yielding cows for two to four weeks before calving can generally be recommended. This concentrate helps to maintain intake in the run-up to calving, and conditions the rumen to allow much quicker introduction of concentrates after calving. If cow condition or forage quality is poor, concentrates should always be fed for at least three to four weeks before calving.
Trials have shown that this concentrate has no effect on cow calving problems with Friesian/Holstein type calves, provided cows don’t get too fat. It may be somewhat different with first calvers.
A few years ago, studies in France indicated a bulky diet during the dry period had a very favourable effect on the health, fertility, intakes and yields of very high yielding cows during the following lactation. Most of this work was done with herds yielding in excess of 2,500 gallons (in 305 days) with a diet of 5kg of chopped straw and 5kg of a TMR lactation diet during the entire dry period. This study was extended to Ireland by Keenans during the past few years. The results on Irish farms with herds yielding 1500 to 2000 gallons (305 days) are also excellent.
* After Calving: Concentrates should be introduced gradually, over a week at least, after calving. Where concentrates have been fed before calving, this introduction period can be halved. With grass silage, concentrates should normally contain about 18% protein. Higher protein concentrates may be required where silage protein is low. If maize silage or beet is being fed, much higher protein concentrate will be required, as well as specific minerals to suit these feeds.
The level of concentrate feeding after calving will depend on many factors especially silage quality, cow potential, cow condition and quota. Trials have shown that silage with DMD in the low 60s is likely to reduce milk yields by more than 20% compared to silage with a DMD in the mid 70s. The standard feeding recommendation for cows on silage with 72 DMD is 6 to 8 kg per cow. High yielding herds will respond to higher levels. A change of five DMD units will require a change of 1kg in concentrate feeding, in order to maintain milk yield. If silage quality is poor, some of it should be replaced with other feeds.
High dry matter intakes are very important for high-yielding cows. The inclusion of maize silage, whole crop, beet etc, in addition to grass silage, will increase intakes and improve milk yields and milk protein. Silage should be fed fresh every day and kept pushed into barriers. Cows should have adequate feed space to ensure shy animals get their fair share. Any animals that are thin and are backward should get special attention. All stock should have plenty clean water — check your troughs regularly.
Of course, as soon as sufficient grass is available and conditions allow, part-time grazing should begin, and concentrates can be phased back. Cows can eat 2kg of grass dry matter per hour for the first three hours.
