5 key factors in transition cow management

Three weeks just before calving until three weeks just after may be the most important – and dangerous – time in the life of adult dairy animals. It’s a time filled with physical demands and potentially critical health complications that all pose a risk of death or premature culling.

This transition period is the bridge from one lactation to the next. While cows can sometimes negotiate it fine on their own, help from producers greatly improves their chances. Ken Norlund, D.V.M., (pictured here) a clinical professor in the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, suggests five key areas producers should focus their efforts:

#1 Fresh cow screening. Simply watch the general attitude and appetite of fresh cows. Also, try to monitor milk weights, and temp all animals on a daily basis.

#2 Stall size. Norlund prefers 72- x 48-inch stalls for fresh cows but says even roomier ones are needed for closeups. For them he suggests stalls that are 50 to 52 inches wide and 108 to 120 inches long.

#3 Stall surface. Cows bedded on firm surfaces spend two to three times as much time standing, less time lying, and have more lameness than cows bedded on soft surfaces.

#4 Social regroupings. Every time cows are moved it causes “social turmoil” for two to three days as groups reestablish pecking orders. Norlund recommends against long stays for cows in daily entry pens and encourages having several pens of closeups that can be moved as groups, versus one or two large pens in which cows come and go every day.

#5 Bunk space. Norlund recommends at least 30 inches per head. Studies show only 80 percent of stanchion holes are occupied when ‘five-in-10’ stanchion panels are used and recommends transition groups have ‘four-in-10’ panels instead.