How to raise and manage the dry milk period of farmed dairy cows

In order to raise the cows in the dry milk period, the dry milk period is generally divided into two stages: the early stage and the late stage of dry milk. The whole stage from the beginning of dry milk to 15 days before calving is called pre-dry milk, and the period from 2 weeks before calving to delivery is often called post-dry milk (also known as pre-perinatal).

In the early stage of dry milk, cows are generally given moderate nutritional status, using 4 kilograms of high-quality hay and about 10 kilograms of concentrate. With a body condition score of 3.8 to 4.2, the body is plump and the coat is shiny. For lean dry cows, nutrition should be increased on the basis of the nutritional needs of pregnancy, plus the nutritional needs of 5-10 kg milk production, so that the fat condition of dairy cows can be restored to 3.5-4.0 points within 20 days. In dry milk within a week, should observe the breast condition, if there is a lump, the cow is uneasy, must be treated quickly, wait for the condition to improve before drying the milk. At this stage, the diet should be based on roughage, properly matched with concentrate. The amount of concentrate generally accounts for 0.6% to 0.9% of body weight, that is, 3.5 to 5 kg, and the dry matter ratio of concentrate to concentrate is 30, 70, 20, 80. The content of crude fiber in diet is not less than 18%. For young cows who give birth for the first time, the feed ration should be increased by 10% to 18% to prevent the negative metabolic balance of overweight after calving. The diet of dried dairy cows must be made of good quality and digestible feed, do not use rotten feed, and the amount of low nutrient concentration roughage and succulent feed should be limited, so as not to oppress the fetus and cause premature delivery. In addition, should also be given clean drinking water, summer water temperature had better be controlled at 100C or so, winter 150C or so, do not drink ice water.

In the later stage of dry milk, cows should be given a medium and high nutritional level so that their calving condition is close to 4.5 points. Therefore, according to the body condition, appetite, fecal type and expected milk yield of dairy cows at that time, the amount of concentrate should be increased to 1-1.5 kg per 100 kg body weight, but the ratio of concentrate to roughage should be controlled between 30-70-40-60, and the level of crude fiber should not be less than 17%. Of course, the improvement of concentrate level should have a time gradient, which generally increases by 0.3 kg per day. When the cow has the phenomenon of anorexia, concentrate can no longer be added, and only after the cow eliminates this phenomenon can we consider adding concentrate. For cows with excessive breast expansion or severe edema in prenatal days, concentrate should be reduced appropriately, succulent feed should be stopped, and salt consumption should be reduced. If the concentrate is fed with wet concentrate, the concentrate at this stage should not be too wet. 20-30 days before delivery, low-calcium diets should be fed to reduce the content of calcium in dry matter to 0.2% and reduce the amount of salt. In prenatal 2-3 days, in order to prevent milk fever in dairy cows, can be fed with anionic salt feed. At the same time, in order to prevent constipation, the amount of laxative feed such as wheat bran should be appropriately increased in the concentrate, which can account for 15%-23% of the concentrate. In the later stage of dry milk, the condition of the breast should be carefully examined, and if there is breast inflammation, it should be treated immediately.

In addition, cows should be allowed to move freely throughout the dry period to reduce dystocia and prevent crowding. Strengthen fetal protection, do not feed spoiled feed, do not drink ice water, do not need cold water to rinse the cow, do not let the cow fall or slip.