After Advanced Nutrition's advice and using DC X-Zel for our transition cows we have found they are fitter and healthier. They don’t lose much condition after they calve, right through to lactation. They just calve down better.
Getting nutrition right in transition
A focus on nutrition is one part of transition management, with key areas having an impact on performance. Dairy Farmer Reports with Will Tulley, Head of Technical, Advanced Ruminant Nutrition.
Farmers and herd managers across the UK know that the Transition period is crucial to the lifetime production of their herd. There is also a real pressure in the industry to reduce antibiotic usage, whilst still increasing profitability. So why are we still not getting transition management right? On a recent study trip to the USA, Will Tulley saw a real shift nutritional thinking backed by new research to show how it was working on farm. It’s an approach Advanced Ruminant Nutrition use with several of their farms and they too have been seeing some positive results.
Will comments, “In recent years, transition management has really focused on high straw diets used to control energy intakes, but this can result in lower protein diets and be at the expense of early lactation milk production. Rather than just looking at how to reduce transition disease we need to see the dry period as an opportunity to set cows up to optimise their performance in the next lactation. Some of this is around diet formulation, but it needs to be backed up by strict management protocols.”
“If we can manage ration preparation and delivery, energy intakes, protein and amino acid levels and control of hypocalcaemia we can minimise the depressing work of managing sick cows, we can have a positive impact both in long term health, production and profitability,” explains Will.
Studies have shown that for those cows who transition without disease there is only a 1% chance of culling by 60 days in milk. Those who transition with a fresh cow disease are 5% more likely to be culled by 60 days in milk. So, not only are we spending more money to treat productions diseases, 6% of the herd are likely not to have paid for themselves. This has real impact on herd sustainability. So, what can we do to improve the transition period?
Nutrient Intakes
“At four to five days in milk cows’ nutrient requirements are increasing by between two and seven times. Dry matter intake doesn’t increase sufficiently quickly to provide all these additional nutrients and so cows mobilise body tissue and require increased calcium uptake from the gut and bone stores. If feed intake is too low, then they start to excessively mobilise fat due to excessive negative nutrient balance. The key is to manage dry matter intakes to minimise the gap in nutrients around calving. The dip is normal, but if we can minimise it, the cows will be healthier and, get up and eat well. If they eat well, they produce more milk and are in a better metabolic state.”
A North American study looked at the impact of straw chop length at the period around calving. They compared a four inch chop length with one inch length. With the shorter chop length, the cows sorted less and ate more. Across the entire dry period this increased intakes and there was less of a drop in DMIs as the cows approached calving. This helped with energy and protein levels as well as producing more consistent intakes. They also had less ketones in the blood three weeks after calving.
The study also looked at adding water to the straw diet fed in the trough. Seven to ten days prior to calving, results showed higher and more consistent DMI’s, less sorting and higher rumen pH after calving.
It’s now well recognised that excess dietary energy in the dry period, increases metabolic disorders and leads to poorer reproductive performance.
Will Tulley explains, “In terms of milk yield a high energy vs. a controlled energy diet doesn’t present much of a difference, however milk fat is higher in the group fed the higher energy diet before calving, but then you are mobilising body fat to do this. Controlled energy is seen to be far better for health and fertility. Rather than feeding the dry cows more energy before they’ve calved, the key is in keeping DMI’s consistent.”
Protein balance
“We also look at the protein balance around calving. During early lactation, a cow requires around 16 – 18% protein to fulfil her needs as her body recovers from calving and produces her peak milk flow. However rather than only looking at overall dietary protein supply we should be looking at supply of available protein to the cow, and ultimately the supply and balance of amino acids. Amino acids are the building blocks for milk and body proteins and so are critical for health and immune function. If we don’t get this right the cow can start to mobilise skeletal muscle which is associated with an increased risk of mastitis and sole ulcers in early lactation.’
Calcium mobilisation
Calcium mobilisation is another area to watch in terms of diets for a transitioning cows. The cow needs to mobilise calcium at calving for the calving process and well as the production of colostrum and then milk. However, Will Tulley comments, “Milk fever is controllable and in terms of KPI’s all farms should be aiming for less than 1% clinical milk fevers – anything above this suggests that a more robust control program is required.
Will suggests a controlled program for milk fever. “In the UK, DCAB is quite often used to manage calcium metabolism However, it can be a quite complicated system to implement and monitoring the dietary mineral levels is difficult in a timely manner. Over in the USA there is a huge shift towards the use of Zeolite as a management tool for transition cows, not just for milk fever but for all metabolic diseases.”
“With a mineral binder you have better control on calcium mobilisation in early lactation. Whilst you do see a lower phosphorus level before calving, this is what it should be if you are getting it right using this method.”
There are a small number of comparative studies showing the effect of the zeolite or mineral binder X-Zelit compared to DCAB diets and all show better control of blood calcium levels around calving in animals fed the zeolite diets. Zeolite prevents animals from becoming chronically low in calcium, which significantly affects disease and culling levels in early lactation. Some studies also show benefits on milk production and fertility.
Whilst DCAB can be successful, sub-clinical hypocalcemia is a hidden problem in many herds. Blood samples can be taken for calcium in the period after calving to monitor the success of your control program, but it’s important that monitoring programs are suitable for the dietary approach used, and results are interpreted correctly.
Will Tulley concludes, “The team at Advanced Nutrition have been seeing great results with controlled energy diets for a number of years now. We really focus on consistent dry matter intakes, this way when we get to post-calving we can really maximise intakes and therefore energy levels. We need to start thinking in terms of setting the right energy levels at the right time. Continual monitoring at this point in the lifecycle is also key, especially around subclinical milk fever prevention.”
“Regardless of your nutritional approach on farm it’s essential that you know and monitor the transition cows dry matter intakes and formulate rations appropriately to achieve the required energy and amino acid supply, without either under or overfeeding. Close monitoring of rumen fill immediately before and after calving is an excellent tool to indicate any issues with dry matter intake in this critical period, but remembering that physical ration preparation plays as large a role in success as the actual formulation of the diet.”
〈 BACK
