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IGFAIGFA FeedFeedForumForum
October 2012October 2012
Pat OByrnePat OByrne
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Managing the Transition Cow
Research indicates that declines in cow survival are due to
more to shifts in herd management where herds are
increasing in size, with mortality and culling in the first 60
days in milk. (Dechow & Goulding 2008)
The dairy nutrition program affects productivity and
profitability more than any other single factor.
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Physiological Changes
Mana ement Ob ectives
Addressing Dry Cow Management
Metabolic Disorders
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Physiological Changes- Regeneration of the mammary gland
- 60% of foetal growth takes place in thelast two months.
- Drop in dry matter intake 30%
(Grummer 1998)
Addressing Dry Cow Management
Management Objectives- Body Condition Score @ drying off & calving- Optimum Ca (calcium) status
- Immune System (oxidative stress)- Rumen Papilla
- Pain
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Transition Management Key to Success
Key Areas to be Addressed on Farm
Periparturient nutrition and disease prevention
BCS and prevention of fatty liver
Mi ever an su c inica ypoca cemia GIT function
SARA
Displaced Abomasum Retained Placenta Uterine Health
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Transition Cow Management
VET
NUTRITION
DIETS
PHYSIOLOGICAL
INTERACTIONSIN THE
TRANSITION COW
DISEASEOUTBREAK
COW COMFORT
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Dry Cow Management
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Dry Cow Management
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Addressing Transition Management
Physiological transformation and a weakened immune system
means cows are vulnerable to:
a) Metabolic disorders
b) Infectious health disorders
Including:
a) Milk fever
b) Retained placenta
c) Metritis
Immune cells are involved in an array of metabolic functions
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Economic Losses of Metabolic Disorders
Milk Fever Rt.Placenta Ketosis LDA
Deaths% 4 1.5 0.5 2
Culls% 5 6 5 8
Delayed Conception,Days 13 15 10 12
Discarded Milk-kgs 0 150 0 140
Lost Milk-kgs 130 250 230 575
C.Guard,Cornell-1998
Average Cost (Vet Irl.) 423 448 320 515
Nutribio-Data Base
No. Of Cows - 16,141
% Metabolic Disorders 3.8 4.7 1 1
Av.No.Of Cows /Herd - 106 4 5 1 1
per Herd 1,692 2,240.00 320 515
Total Cost - 4,767.00
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1. Optimum BCS
Period HerdAverage
Range
Drying Off 3.0 2.75 3.0Calving 3.25 3.0 3.5
. . .
3.53.02.75
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The Issue with Grass Silage
Macros Ca Phos Mg K NA CL S
% DM % DM % DM % DM % DM % DM % DM
Average 0.64 0.28 0.18 2.32 0.29 0.88 0.16
Target 0.5-0.6 0.3-0.4 0.25-0.50 1.8-2.5 0.15-.25 0.2-0.4 0.2-0.4
DCAD (K+NA) (CL+S) = 373 meq/kg dm
Target -150 to +150 meq/kgdm
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Silage Analysis
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Inter-relationships between Nutrition & Diseases in the
Perparturient Dairy Cow
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Negative Energy Balance Pre-Calving
Cows Losing Weight Pre-Calving
Results in
Retained Placenta
Fatty Liver (Bertics et al 1992) Displaced Abomasum (Le Blanc et al 2005)
Immunosuppression (Goff 2003)
Uterine Infection
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Negative Energy Balance Pre-Calving
Causes
Poor quality silage
Grou stress
Over conditioned
Large number of cows in the dry pen
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Milk Fever
20% - 60% of Cows get Sub-Clinical Milk Fever
Retained placenta & slow calvings
Reduced Immune system(Goff 2003)
Reduced fertility
Significant delays to first ovulation after calving(Jonsson et al 1999)
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Formulating the Dry Cow Diet
Total Diet DM basis:
Macros:
Magnesium 0.4% - 0.5%
Phosphorous 0.3%
otass um < .
Anion Salts:
Calcium Chloride Ca% 1.0 1.2
Vitamins-ius/day
A 80,000 ; D3- 25-30,000; E 1,000 2,000;
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Transition Cow Management
VET
NUTRITION
DIETS
HOUSING
PHYSIOLOGICALINTERACTIONS
IN THE
TRANSITION COW
OUTBREAK COW COMFORT
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Transition Period & Reproductive Performance
Associations of NEFA & BHB
NEFA Pre-Calving Days Increased Risk
(>0.4mmol/l 7 10 2-4 times LDA2 times R P
2 times of culling
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Transition Period & Reproductive Performance
Associations of NEFA & BHB
Subclinical Ketosis
BHBA Post-Calving Days Increased Risk(>1200-1400) < 14 3-8 times LDAmol/l 3 times Metritis
4-6 times Clinical Ketosis
3 Mastitis in the first monthIncreased duration & severity of mastitis
>100mol/l in milk 7 1.5 times not to have ovulated
by 9 weeks
Duffield et al 2009Hammon et al 2006
Walsh et al 2007
Jnosi et al
Suriyasathaporn,2000
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Parameters to monitor health in peripartum cows
Goal:
Optimize energy metabolism and immune function to favour uterine healthand reproductive performance
Means:
Manage cows to provide feed and resting access to maintain intake in the
transition period
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Dry Cow Management
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Parameters to monitor health in peripartum cows
Nutrition:
3-4 weeks on close up diet or 5-6 weeks as 1 dry group.
Feed toprovide but not exceed maintenance requirements Fresh feed daily
Adequate water
Monitoring:
NEFA < 0.4 mEq/l in the last week prepartum
< 1.0 mEq/l in week 1 postpartum
BHB < 1100 mol/l in week 1< 1400 mol/l in weeks 2-4 after calving
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Milk Yield and Feed Intake
25
30
35
40
45
50
15
20
25
30
kgMilk/Day
0
5
10
15
20
0 4 8 12 16 20 24 28 32 36 40 44 48 52
0
5
10
kg Milk/Day
kg DM/Day
deficiency of
nutrients
Weeks after calving
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Negative Energy Balance Cyclicity & Fertility
Organs that have to adapt to deal with NEB.
1. Liver undergoes extensive biochemical and morphological changes.Natural mobilisation of body tissue give rise to NEFA and BHB which lead
to oxidative stress reduction in immune system therefore more
.
2. Uterus must clear bacterial infections, remodel itself(reduce size) and
repair itself, this will be delayed in a NEB.
3. Ovary must resume ovulatory cycles
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Improve Transition Cow Immunity
Improve
Energy
Balance
Calcium
MetabolismHygiene
Transition
Cow
Immunity
Avoid
Stressors
Manage
MetabolicHealth
Antioxidant
Balance
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Thank you
Thank you for your attention Any questions?