Tip of the Month – January 2017

Ration, Christmasfeeling by cows.

During the holiday break, Christmas and New Year, did you eat well and maybe too much? Did you also notice that afterwards you can take a nice, longer than usual, nap? And going a little later to the barn because it was somewhat more difficult to start with the chores?  That’s what we call: “the Christmas feeling.”

Cows have that same feeling when the ration is appetizing but not well balanced. For example: by proportionally having too much starch or other saturating, slow products. Additionally, a ration could also be badly balanced due to fast products that gives the same feeling. Moreover, it could also happen because there wasn’t good and enough feed in the troughs for a few hour(s) so they eat for a while too little and after feed finally arrived then the cows eat too much or too fast.

Also the feeling could develop when a cow changes from group with very different tasty rations occur often to fluctuating feeding.

In conclusion, we notice one severe farms this “Christmas Feeling” a long time! To solve this issue, you need a good ration and feeding-rules to keep the cows healthier and active over a longer period of time.

Read the herd’s behavior: you can see discrepancies in the number of times they visit the VMS, where the cows are and how they act in the barn or how they ruminate.