Dry cow nutrition for autumn-calving dairy cows will require additional attention where heat stress and a shortage of available grazing become a consequence of the summer’s heatwave conditions.
So advises Rumenco’s Technical Services Manager, Dr Alison Bond, who says the period leading up to calving is especially critical when conditions are more challenging, with maintaining optimum body condition score (BCS) and avoiding any deficiencies being amongst the key priorities.
“The milking cows will be front of mind, in terms of the available grazing and rationing, but it’s really important not to forget the dry cows,” she warns. “Firstly, assess their condition in late lactation, and adapt the time for drying off accordingly, with any cows in poorer condition being dried off sooner. It’s then a case of feeding them appropriately, with the aim of them calving down at around BCS 3, and in optimum health.
“Where grazing is short, it may be better to move the dry cows inside, feeding them a base ration of good quality silage, with suitable supplementation.”
According to Dr Bond, close attention to nutrition in the six to eight weeks before calving can help to overcome a host of potential problems, ensuring cows calve down easily with healthy udders, reach their full lactation potential, and get back into calf at the right time.
“This is the time when producers are seeking a seamless transition from pregnancy to lactation, which will help to avoid problems such as difficult calvings, milk fever, mastitis, retained placentas, and so on,” she adds. “It is also important for cows to provide the best quality colostrum to the newborn calf, ensuring protection during the period of greatest vulnerability and priming the immune system to guard against challenges such as scour and respiratory disease.
“With the added challenge of heat stress during the dry period, and the potential disruption to forage supplies due to drought conditions, closer attention to the requirements of dry cows will be all the more vital.”
Dr Bond advises feeding dry cows a good quality forage where cattle have been moved inside, and this should ideally have been analysed for its mineral and trace element content to allow any deficiencies to be adequately addressed.
She points to Rumenco’s specialist pre-calving supplement, Lifeline Pre-Calver, which offers a balanced supply of vitamins, minerals, trace elements and a number of unique nutritional additives to support cow and calf health. Available as a mineral bucket or mineral crumb, it offers a simple low-labour solution, whether cows remain outside on pasture or are moved inside.
“Ensuring cows have everything they need at this time, particularly where there are stress factors such as extreme heat, is the recommended best practice, and that is exactly what Lifeline Pre-Calver’s unique formulation has been developed to do,” she adds. “It has a low-calcium and high-magnesium balance to help mitigate against milk fever and to minimise the risk of difficult calvings.
“It has also been proven in trials to increase colostrum quality by up to 20 per cent, which could be the difference between a thriving calf and one that is susceptible to disease.
“With a summer that has exposed dry cows to extreme heat and may present challenges in terms of the quantity and quality of forage, Dr Bond says the risks of mineral and trace element deficiencies could be greater than usual.
“It’s another reason for a best practice approach at this time,” she stresses. “Feeding Lifeline Pre-Calver will provide a blend of important nutritional boosters along with multiple sources of copper, including protected copper, to support fertility post-calving.
“There are also high levels of selenium and vitamin E to promote calf vigour and maintain cow health throughout the transition period.”
