The Best Way to Prepare Your Cow For High Milk Yield!
The most frightening thought to a dairy investor is low milk yield in their dairy cattle. However much it is heartbreaking, it’s happening at a wide scale. The latest research by Perin L and Enahoro D (2023), Foresight study on dairy farming systems in Central Kenya and north of Senegal shows that the major breeds in Kenya are Freisian and Aryshire and the average milk yield is 7.8 Litres per cow per day. The major challenge remains high production cost as a result of high feed costs. Despite all that, we need your cow to produce more than 20 Litres of milk daily.
It is important to understand the normal events in a cows life that are associated with milk production. For heifers and cows, it all starts with coming on heat. The age and bodyweight during conception determines the level of production after calving. You must ensure that your heifer attains two thirds of mature bodyweight for example 350 Kilograms if her mother weighed 500 Kilograms at calving. For milking cows, her body condition is relative to her ability to come on heat and conceive. Ensure that she has an excellent body condition score.
After conception, the most important milestones are drying off, steaming up and transition cow management. Failure to take care of these events will rob you of an opportunity to get more yields from your herd. Drying off should be done 8 weeks before calving together with steaming up that should start 18 days before calving. Transition cow management refers to taking care of the cow or heifer that is moving from incalf state to lactation state- milking phase.
Drying off gives your cow or heifer time to prepare herself for the lactation period. It is a resting period as opposed to the thought that it literally means to stop milking the cow. Drying off is marked by a change in diet in cows and heifers. In cows that were previously producing milk, you stop milking her and do dry cow therapy, a treatment to prevent occurrence of mastitis in the incalf cow. Drying off as previously indicated must be done at least 8 weeks before calving – at 7 months incalf. The change in diet is inclusion of highly fibrous feeds like hay and straw, reduction of the amount of silage used by 40%, reduction of dairymeal quantity to atmost 3 Kilograms daily and change of mineral lick from high Calcium minerals used by the cow or heifer previously that normally contain 18 – 20% Calcium to low mineral lick that has 5% Calcium – normally referred to as dry mineral lick. High Calcium mineral licks must strictly be avoided during the dry phase.
Steaming up is done during the dry period. The most ideal period to do it is 18 days before calving. It involves provision of high protein feeds to the dry cow in order to prepare her for high milk yield. Steaming up should not be done 2 months before calving! – Note the distinction. During the last 18 days of pregnancy, important activities take place in animals body which include transfer of valuable trace elements to the unborn calf to set her up for high performance after calving and multiplication of the cells of udder which is only possible during the last trimester of pregnancy. Better milk production performance during the subsequent lactation phase is determined by how well the udder will develop! To achieve high quality steaming for high milk yield, increase the amount of dairymeal provided to at least 5 Kilograms daily, continue feeding her on highly fibrous fodder, using dry mineral lick and introduce Tranzpro® 2 tablespoons daily.
Transition cow management refers to the care given to the cows and heifers that just started being milked following the incalf / pregnancy state. The change is far reaching and proper care must be given to the animals for sustained high production. It informs attainment of peak milk production that should occur by the 90th day after caving. After calving, the cows body responds by reduced feed intake yet they need more nutrients to support milk production, survive and be able to come on heat as early as from the 45th day into lactation. Success in transition cow management is determined by how well drying off and steaming up was done. Produces of proper drying off and steaming up are zero cases of retained placenta/after-birth, zero cases of mik fever and zero ketosis as a result of maintainance of a good body condition. This success might fail to be felt if the transition is poorly managed which leads to low milk yield. To achieve great results, adjust the nutrition of the cow that just calved down as follows. Reduce the highly fibrous fodder, increase the amount of silage upto 20 Kilograms daily – If using fresh fodder, upto 70 Kilograms daily, the quantity of dairymeal should be increased based on the level of milk yield, reintroduce high Calcium mineral lick and Tranzpro® for 36 more days. These changes must be made immediately after calving.
In conclusion, the key to high milk yield lies in maintenance of good body condition that is achieved through proper management of drying off, steaming up and care during the transition phase. These open limitless doors in milk production leading to success in dairy investments!
