DHIA/Records

I have heard Dr. John Currin of our veterinary college talk several times about cow losses in early lactation in Virginia dairy herds. His point is that early lactation is a critical period in the life of a cow and mistakes in management at this time can be very expensive. Culling or death losses in early lactation terminate the income stream on an animal that has been carried through either the rearing or dry period where she generated only expenses. His take home message is to constantly monitor the number of cows lost in the first 100 days of lactation and to take steps quickly to correct problems. Adjustments in cow management, housing, and feeding will pay big dividends if those early lactation losses can be reduced. PCDART reports can created that will find the cows that left the herd early. These reports can be run periodically to spot trends. The state 202 summary for November 2008 showed that the average herd in the state removed 31% of lactating animals from the herd for one reason or another. Only 10% of animals removed from the herd were sold to other producers for dairy purposes. Another 14% or those culled were culled for low production, 22% for reproductive failure, 16% for disease and injury, 12% for mastitis or udder problems, and 8% for feet and leg problems. Death losses are 18% of all cows that leave the herd, but 5.5% of all cows in the herd. Those early lactation losses that concern Dr. Currin talks about arise from metabolic diseases following parturition, calving difficulty, and early lactation mastitis in the majority of cases. Reproduction and low yield, heavy hitters among all causes of losses from the herd, don’t impact the early lactation losses. However, both causes may have begun as early lactation problems that were not severe enough to claim the cow outright. There is no more important time for profitable management of individual dairy cows than the weeks between the dry date in one lactation and the date of pregnancy in the next.

DHI Notes...