The transition period is critical to ensuring healthy, in-calf cows are ready to work for you the following year.
Most disease occurs around the calving period, and is associated with reduced production, decreased reproductive performance and longevity. Preventing transition disease (and deaths) is the aim.
To set ourselves up for success, getting the transition right is key. This includes:
- Optimal body condition scores
- Optimum animal health
- Nutrition, including trace and macro element status, and
- Staff training in all relevant areas.
What can we do now?
Body Conditioning Score
Feed cows to calve at 5 and 5.5 targets for cows and heifers, respectively, to reduce transition disease. We can generally only put on one BCS a month in New Zealand, so we are limited now with time to calving. If calving below target BCS, plan to maintain as much condition after calving as possible (preferential feeding, milking once a day) to improve their chances of staying in the herd. If at target BCS before calving, hold them there by feeding maintenance rations.
Trace and macro elements
If you haven’t already, get trace and macro elements levels assessed. Talk to your vet about supplementation. Pre-calving supplementation with injectable products, e.g. copper, selenium, zinc and manganese, has shown better immune response (and less disease), including reduced mastitis. This makes sense as periods of stress, e.g. calving, result in significant drops in trace elements. Getting trace and microelement levels right will reduce the number of cows getting diseases such as milk fever or retained membranes.
Nutrition
Talk to your vet or nutritionist to ensure your feed budget will meet the nutritional requirements of your cows. Data from wearables has shown us that many cows are underfed during transition. Consider if your feed budget accounts for wastage when doing your calculations.
Assess your cows
It takes time for cows to have enough capacity to eat sufficient quality pasture to meet their energy needs after calving. Assess each animal before moving to the milking herd to ensure her rumen is developed (pear-shaped from behind), and she is fit and healthy to be milked twice a day.
Use data
For those with wearables, this real-time data gives you information to change herd management if needed. Talk to your vet or advisor about how rumination time, health alerts and other measures can be used to help manage cows for the best production and health outcomes.
Treat cows early and fully
The sooner you treat (lameness, mastitis), including anti-inflammatories, the more likely and sooner she will increase production and get back in calf. If cows have not recovered as anticipated, get her back in and reassess her. Is there something else going on? Does she need longer treatment?
Staff training
With new staff, ensure they can deal with situations relevant to their role. Refresh other staff on good practices. Can all relevant staff confidently deal with spring challenges? Calculate and measure the correct dose of calcium to dust? Give metabolics? Select, draw up, and administer all treatments? Record health events, treatments, calvings and withholding periods accurately?
For new staff especially, encourage them to investigate and communicate. If things don’t seem right, they probably aren’t. Have systems and processes to follow including how communication in the team works. If a cow is sick, how should she be treated, and who administers the treatments? Records them? Communicates what’s happened so trends can be picked up?
Go through “what if” scenarios, for example, bad weather and rain leading to more milk fever; how do we prevent this?
Get ready
Have in-date supplies ready ahead of time, including for milk fever (low calcium), grass staggers (low magnesium), calving and animal treatments with a good supply of new needles and syringes. Have after-calving calcium supplementation and energy treatments available.
Look after each other
The transition period is challenging. Look out for each other. Your cows will thank you for it!