What is Really Happening During Transition?
Transition is a critical period that takes place six weeks surrounding calving. This period is important because it is one of the key determinants of your dairy’s productivity and profitability. It is vital to look at your nutrition and management programs during transition because they directly affect the incidence of having post-calving problems or milk production issues. If your operation does not have a standard transition protocol in place, you might want to take a step back to look at what you are currently doing and see what other recommended transition procedures can be implemented.
Why is this time so critical?
It is critical because it is important to farm economics and overall herd health. The inability to adapt during this time enhances susceptibility to metabolic problems. If your operation experiences any metabolic problems, such as: milk fever, displaced abomasums, retained placentas or ketosis, they can end up costing big money and affect milk production. Cornell workers reported the following losses associated with each case of the following metabolic problems.
Metabolic Issues | Cost
Milk fever | $334
Displaced abomasums | $340
Retained placenta | $285
Ketosis | $145
Source: Drenching Fresh Cows: Mike Hutjens, Extension Dairy Specialist, University of Illinois, Ubrana, 04/17/2002
*Note: These costs include veterinarian treatment costs, added labor, discarding of milk due to antibiotic treatment (if needed), lost milk during the lactation, higher culling rates, and death losses (in some cases).
Why do these problems arise at calving?
During transition, two key metabolic changes happen in relation to the energy demand:
1.) The cow’s liver begins making tremendous amounts of glucose to meet the increased demand for milk lactose. Also, cows absorb very little glucose directly from the digestive tract because most of it is being synthesized in the liver.
2.) The cow begins to mobilize large amounts of body fat called “non-esterified fatty acids” (NEFA) for energy. NEFA can be taken up by the liver, used by tissues for energy or used to produce milk fat. If more NEFA is taken up by the liver than it can metabolize, then it is partially metabolized and exported as ketone bodies (causing ketosis) or stored in the liver (causing fatty liver).
Something you might want to consider implementing into your operation is a calving protocol:
1.) Changing the cow’s ration before and after calving.
2.) Drenching the cow after calving to replace the key nutrients and electrolytes that were lost during calving.
The Solution
Our suggested solution is Trouw Nutrition’s CowDrink™, the drinkable drench. It is a nutritional supplement that rehydrates the cow as well as provides the necessary vitamins and trace minerals, which helps to minimize metabolic problems and restore fluids as she begins to produce milk. Plus, it’s extremely palatable so cows will drink it even when they don’t feel well; if cows could talk, they would ask for it by name! Learn more about Cow Drink here.
To make CowDrink™ available to your dairy customers, chat with your Stutsman Territory Sales Manager.
Find your local Stutsman dealer here to add CowDrink™ to your calving protocol.