How to Take Care of a Lactating Cow

Maintain High Milk Yield, Health & Timely Heat Return

A lactating cow is like a high-performance engine, she gives her best only if cared for right. From the moment she calves, how you feed her, manage her environment, and monitor her health determines how much milk she produces, how soon she returns to heat, and how long she stays productive.

Here’s how to do it right:

Table of Contents

✅ 1. Prioritize Nutrition

Milk production drains a cow’s energy fast, especially in early lactation.

Give high-energy feeds like maize germ, dairy meal, or total mixed rations (TMR).
Provide quality forages (e.g. Napier grass, lucerne, silage).
Include protein supplements like sunflower or cottonseed cake.
Add minerals & salts daily — they support milk production and hormone balance.

🟡 Tip: Appetite often drops after calving. Use appetite boosters like Tranzpro® to kickstart feed intake.

💪 Don’t forget the power of Booster+®:

Increased Milk Yield – Especially useful for cows lagging in milk production.
Recovery Support – Helps sick or weak cows bounce back quickly to full strength.

✅ 2. Ensure Clean Water Supply

Milk is over 85% water.
🚰 A cow producing 20+ liters of milk needs 80–120 liters of clean, fresh water daily.
Place water near feeding points to encourage drinking.

✅ 3. Hygiene = Health

Keep the udder clean to avoid mastitis.
Wash teats before and after milking.
Milk in a stress-free and calm environment.

📌 Disinfect teats with iodine or udder sanitizers after every session.

✅ 4. Watch Her Body Condition

Too thin? She might be losing energy too fast.
Too fat? She could delay coming into heat.
Aim for a Body Condition Score (BCS) of 2.5 to 3.5 during lactation.

✅ 5. Monitor Heat Signs & Cycle

A healthy cow should come to heat within 45–60 days after calving.
If she’s eating well, healthy, and stress-free, her body resumes cycling fast.

📌 Use heat detection aids or simply observe early morning and late evening behaviors like mounting or mucus discharge.

✅ 6. Support Her Recovery After Calving

Post-calving recovery affects everything.

Use Tranzpro® immediately after calving to prevent retained placenta and boost recovery.
Booster+® also supports quick recovery, especially for cows that were sick or had difficult calving.
Deworm and supplement with vitamins within 2 weeks.

✅ 7. Give Her Rest Time

Allow her to lie down for at least 12 hours a day.
This improves blood flow to the udder, boosting milk production.

🌟 Bottom Line

A lactating cow is your farm’s engine.
If you fuel her right, clean her space, and listen to her signals, she’ll give you more milk, stay healthy, and be ready to conceive again.

Dairyverse Tip:
Don’t wait until she drops in production, daily care equals daily profit.