Tip of the Month – March 2017

Feeding cows  from 100 days before setting them dry

De biggest feeding mistakes are made in the transition period or at the end of lactation.

Truthfully, the last 100 days before drying of, to ensure the cow obtains the correct feed, it is more important to correlate her ration to stamina and activity levels than to how much she is producing. A farmer has a better view of this than a computer..
Also the first experiences with the new Body Condition Score (BCS) camera show that it pays off to adjust certain measures and so correcting the feed amount in this period.

Gather information from cows who are ca. 100 days before setting dry, or 130-230 days after the last insemination (if you did not do or register pregnancy tests), about the cow’s stamina, production, feed ration and VMS visits.
Does she need more condition (energy feed) or has she already too much? More protein or less? More…..?, or less…..?

It can be useful to make yourself a list that shows the production, feed ration and within how many days she’s to be set dry  in one list.

I get my copy from the list “Feeds Consumption” (Right mouse click) and paste it to “My Lists”. Then, with “Show/Hide Designer” you can choose in the category “Cow Calendar” the column “Days until Dry” and you can add “Number of Milkings” from the category “Milking”, by dragging it (Left mouse hold and drag) to your list.

The newest versions of DelPro even makes it possible to color these cows, e.g. less than 100 days before drying off, so that they stand out!

If these cows are visible, you’ll increase their longevity!