How should dairy farmers manage their cows during the dry period

In order to manage the dry milk period of dairy cows, the dry milk period of dairy cows is generally divided into the early stage and the late stage of dry milk, and the two stages carry out different feeding and management. Pre-dry milk refers to the period from the beginning of dried milk to 15 days before calving. The period from 2 weeks before calving to delivery is called the late stage of dry milk (also known as perinatal period).

Cow

In the early stage of dry milk, cows generally maintain a medium nutritional status, using 4-5 kg of high-quality hay and 10 kg of concentrate. With a body condition score of 3.8-4.2, the body is plump and the coat is shiny. On the basis of the nutritional requirements of pregnancy, the nutritional requirements of 5-10 kg milk production should be properly increased for thin cows, so that the fat condition of dairy cows can be restored to 3.5-4.0 within 20 days. The diet of dairy cows in the early stage of dry milk should be based on roughage, properly matched with concentrate, the amount of concentrate generally accounts for 0.6% of cow body weight, that is, 3.5-5kg, and the dry matter ratio of coarse concentrate is between 70:30 and 80:20. The content of crude fiber in the diet of dairy cows is not less than 18%. For those cows that give birth for the first time, the feed ration of 10% Mel 18% should be increased to prevent the cow from being too thin after calving to produce negative metabolic balance.

In the later stage of dry milk, the nutritional status of dairy cows should be maintained so that the fat condition of dairy cows is close to 4.5 points during calving. Therefore, the increased feeding amount of concentrate should be determined according to the physical condition, appetite, expected milk yield and fecal type of dairy cows at that time. In general, dairy farmers increase the concentrate to 1-1.5kg per 100kg body weight, but they must ensure that the dietary roughage-concentrate ratio is controlled between 70:30 and 60:40 and the crude fiber content is not less than 17%. Concentrate level should be improved in the form of time gradient, generally increasing the amount of concentrate by 0.3 kg per day. When there is a phenomenon of anorexia in dairy cows, there is no need to increase concentrate, and only after the phenomenon of anorexia in dairy cows is eliminated can we consider adding concentrate. If the cow has excessive breast expansion or severe edema a few days before giving birth, the concentrate should be reduced appropriately, succulent feed should be stopped, and the amount of salt should be reduced. If the cow is fed with wet concentrate, the concentrate of this period should not be too wet. 20-30 days before delivery, low-calcium diets should be fed to reduce the content of calcium in the diet to 0.2% and reduce the amount of salt. Milk fever in dairy cows can be prevented by feeding salt feed containing anions within 2-3 days before delivery. At the same time, in order to prevent constipation, we should appropriately increase the amount of laxative feed such as wheat bran in concentrate, which can account for 15% of concentrate. The condition of the cow's breasts should be carefully examined in the later stage of dry milk, 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.