Top ten things to do for healthy and productive transition cows Thomas R. Overton, Ph.D. Professor of Dairy Management Director, PRO-DAIRY Associate Director, Cornell Cooperative Extension Cornell University
Top ten things to do for healthy and productive transition cows
Thomas R. Overton, Ph.D.Professor of Dairy Management
Director, PRO-DAIRYAssociate Director, Cornell Cooperative Extension
Cornell University
Transition period goals
• High milk production
• Maintain/minimize loss of BCS
• Low incidence of metabolic disorders
• Minimize loss of immunocompetence
• Control/decrease days to first ovulation and maintain/enhance fertility
• Low stillborn rate and healthy calves
• Make $$
• Question – can a dairy farm meet all of these goals?
Shift in mindset from the transition cow as a
disease opportunity to the transition cow as a
production and reproduction opportunity!!!
Transition cow success can come in many shapes and sizes….
• Large freestall herds with the ability to group & feed cows in a variety of ways
• Small freestall herds with limited options on grouping & feeding
• Tiestall herds that segregate dry cows
• Tiestall herds that have dry cows in their assigned stalls in the barn, with limited ability to feed them a specific dry or pre-fresh diet
• Grazing herds that freshen year round (including on pasture)
• Grazing herds that freshen most everything in the spring for that flush of spring grass
Top ten things to do for healthy and productive transition cows
• Manage macromineral nutrition/DCAD of dry cows, especially in the last 2 to 3 weeks before calving
Mineral status
Plasma minerals concentration
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5
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9
10
-18 -11 -4 0.3 0.6 1 2 3 4 5 9 15
Days relative to calving
Pla
sma
co
ncen
tra
tio
n (
mg
/dL
)
Control (Ca)
Low DCAD (Ca)
Control (P)
Low DCAD (P)
Control (Mg)
Low DCAD (Mg)
Ramos Nieves et al., 2009
Hypocalcemia incidence analysis
Clinical hypocalcemia
(< 5 mg/dL)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
8h 16h 1d 2d 3d 4d
Time relative to calving
% o
f c
ow
s o
n t
rea
tme
nt Control
Low DCAD
Subclinical hypocalcemia
(5 - 8 mg/dL)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
8h 16h 1d 2d 3d 4d
Time relative to calving
Control
Low DCAD
Ramos-Nieves et al., 2009
Managing macrominerals in close-up dry rations for good postcalving Ca and P status
• Our enemies…
– Potassium (legumes, heavily manured grasses)
– Sodium (but a little salt is good)
• Our friends…
– Chloride and sulfur (anionic supplements)
– Magnesium
– Calcium
• DCAD = (Na+ + K+) - (Cl- + S-2)
Major strategies for application of DCAD for close-up dry cows
• Focus on feeding low K (and Na) forages and feeds to close-up dry cows
• Calculated DCAD ~ +10 mEq/100 g of DM
• Urine pH ~ 8.3 to 8.5
• Feeding low K forages along with partial use of anionic supplement in close-up ration or one-group dry cow ration
• Calculated DCAD ~ 0 mEq/100 g of DM
• Urine pH ~ 7.5
• Feeding low K forages along with full use of anionic supplement in close-up ration or one-group dry cow ration
• Calculated DCAD ~ -10 to -15 mEq/100 g of DM
• Urine pH ~ 6.0 to 7.0 – need to monitor weekly and adjust DCAD supplementation if <
6.0
• Need to also supplement Mg (dietary target 0.40 to 0.45%) during close-up
• Recommend supplementing Ca (0.9 to 1.0% if low K only; 1.4 to 1.5% if full anionic diet)
Top ten things to do for healthy and productive transition cows
• Manage macromineral nutrition/DCAD of dry cows, especially in the last 2 to 3 weeks before calving
• Control energy intake in both far-off and close-up cows – not too little, not too much
• Make sure supplying enough metabolizable protein before calving
– Emphasis on “bypass” protein sources
Overall goals for energy and metabolizable protein intake of both far-off and close-up cows
• Far off cows (dry off until ~ 3 weeks precalving)– ~ 15 - 17 Mcal of NEL per day (0.59 to 0.63 Mcal/lb NEL)– 110 to 120% of ME requirements (0.90 to 0.95 Mcal/lb)– ~ 1000 g/d of metabolizable protein
• Close-up cows (last 3 weeks before calving)– ~16 - 18 Mcal of NEL per day (0.64 to 0.66 Mcal/lb NEL)– 110 to 120% of ME requirements (~ 1.0 Mcal/lb)– ~ 1100 to 1200 g/d of metabolizable protein
• Maybe too low??
Energy for Far-Off Dry Cows
• Ration considerations
NEL 0.59 to 0.63 Mcal/lb for maintenance BCS and controlled energy intake
Typical lactating cow forages
Corn silage ~ 0.70 to 0.75 Mcal/lb NELHaylage ~ 0.60 to 0.65 Mcal/lb NEL
Usually will need to bring in forage with lower energy content than lactating cow forages
Dr. Patrick French regression analysis
• 18 published transition cow studies (2002 to present)
• Prepartum MP intake, mMet intake, and mLysintake positively associated with postpartum milk protein yield (when all three in model r2 = 0.56)
• Suggest optimum at ~ 1,300 g/d MP, 30 g/d mMet, and 90 g/d mLys
General goals for diet formulation for closeup cows
Low K only Full anionic
• NEL, Mcal/lb ~0.64 to 0.66
• NEL, Mcal/kg ~1.40 to 1.45
• Metabolizable protein, g/d 1100 to 1200• NFC, % 28 to 32• Starch, % 16 to 19• Dietary Ca, g/d 100 180 to 200• Dietary Ca, % 0.90 ~ 1.5• Dietary P, % 0.30 to 0.35• Mg, % 0.40 to 0.42• Cl, % 0.3 0.8 to 1.2• K, % < 1.3 < 1.3• Na, % 0.10 to 0.15• S, % 0.20 0.3 to 0.4• Added Se, ppm 0.3• Vitamin A (IU/d) 100000 100000• Vitamin D (IU/d) 30000 30000• Vitamin E (IU/d) 1800 1800Prefer use of more bioavailable trace elements
Top ten things to do for healthy and productive transition cows
• Manage macromineral nutrition/DCAD of dry cows, especially in the last 2 to 3 weeks before calving
• Control energy intake in both far-off and close-up cows – not too little, not too much
• Make sure supplying enough metabolizable protein before calving
• Get the feeding management right, every day
Keys to feeding management of dry cow TMR
• Minimize sorting
– Particle size of straw/hay
• Longest particles < 1.5 in (4 cm)
– Moisture content of TMR
• Target 46 to 48 DM % -- add water if necessary
You HAVE to chop the %(*(#*@&# straw/hay
3.5 lbs straw in 26 lb DM package
6 lbs straw in 27 lb DM package
Screen Lactating cow TMR
Dry cow or heifer TMR
Corn silage Hay crop silage
Straw/dryhay for TMR
Top (> 0.75” sieve)
6 to 10% 10 to 20% 5 to 10% 10 to 20% 33%
Middle(0.31 to 0.75 in sieve)
45 to 55% 50 to 60% 45 to 65% 45 to 75% 33%
Bottom(< 0.31 in sieve)
< 50% < 40% 30 to 40% 20 to 30% 33%
Particle size recommendations using Penn State Particle Separator
Adapted from Penn State guidelines by T. Overton 9/2013
Commercial farm study – prefresh TMR samples from 55 farms (Lawton and Overton, unpublished)
0
10
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30
40
50
60
Top Middle Pan
55 Farms
Recommendation
Top ten things to do for healthy and productive transition cows
• Manage macromineral nutrition/DCAD of dry cows, especially in the last 2 to 3 weeks before calving
• Control energy intake in both far-off and close-up cows – not too little, not too much
• Make sure supplying enough metabolizable protein before calving
• Get the feeding management right, every day
• Clean and comfortable housing and fresh water
• Manage social interactions/hierarchy
– Stocking density, commingling cows/heifers, group changes
Top ten things to do for healthy and productive transition cows
• Manage macromineral nutrition/DCAD of dry cows, especially in the last 2 to 3 weeks before calving
• Control energy intake in both far-off and close-up cows – not too little, not too much
• Make sure supplying enough metabolizable protein before calving
• Get the feeding management right, every day
• Clean and comfortable housing and fresh water
• Manage social interactions/hierarchy
• Manage cold stress and heat stress
Cooling during the entire dry period increases subsequent milk production (differences in kg/d above bars)
Tao and Dahl. 2013. J. Dairy Sci 96 :4079–4093
+ 1.2
+ 3.6
+ 2.6
+ 1.9
+ 7.5 + 2.3 + 5.0
+ 5.2
+ 6.3
Heat stress during the prepartumperiod decreases calf birth weight
Heat-
stressed Control
%
reduction Reference
Tao and Dahl. 2013. J. Dairy Sci 96 :4079–4093
Top ten things to do for healthy and productive transition cows
• Manage macromineral nutrition/DCAD of dry cows, especially in the last 2 to 3 weeks before calving
• Control energy intake in both far-off and close-up cows – not too little, not too much
• Make sure supplying enough metabolizable protein before calving
• Get the feeding management right, every day
• Clean and comfortable housing and fresh water
• Manage social interactions/hierarchy
• Manage cold stress and heat stress
• High quality forage and fermentable diets for fresh cows
BMR corn silage during the transition period
3 wk Prefresh
Conventionalcorn silagehybrids
BMRcorn silage
> 3 wks post-fresh
Conventionalcorn silagehybrids
BMRcorn silage
Wks 3.5 – 15
Conv. CS
Diet formulation goal: Keep all parameters the same withthe exception of NDF digestibility.
Diets formulated with CPM Dairy
Stone et al., 2012. J. Dairy Sci. 95 :6665–6676
Days before or after calving
DMI of cows fed BMR or conventional corn silage during the transition period (Stone et al., 2012)
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5
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30
-25 -15 -5 5 15 25 35 45 55 65 75 85 95 105
Kg
/da
y
BMR
Control
DMI d -14 to -1 14.3 vs. 13.2, P < 0.03DMI d 0 – 21 20.2 vs. 18.2, P < 0.001
Stone et al., 2012. J. Dairy Sci. 95 :6665–6676
3.5% FCM of cows fed BMR or Control corn silage during the transition period
20
25
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55
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Kg/d
Week of Lactation
BMRCS
CCS
Wk 1 - 3 Wk 4 – 15
Variable CCS BMR
CS
SE P-
value
CCS BMR
CS
SE P-
value
Milk, kg 34.3 37.5 1.0 0.03 45.3 47.3 0.90 0.11
3.5% FCM, kg 38.8 42.9 1.5 0.06 46.7 49.4 1.1 0.09
Stone et al., 2012. J. Dairy Sci. 95 :6665–6676
Top ten things to do for healthy and productive transition cows
• Manage macromineral nutrition/DCAD of dry cows, especially in the last 2 to 3 weeks before calving
• Control energy intake in both far-off and close-up cows – not too little, not too much
• Make sure supplying enough metabolizable protein before calving
• Get the feeding management right, every day
• Clean and comfortable housing and fresh water
• Manage social interactions/hierarchy
• Manage cold stress and heat stress
• High quality forage and fermentable diets for fresh cows
• Strategically use feed additives/nutritional tools (the next talk)
Top ten things to do for healthy and productive transition cows
• Manage macromineral nutrition/DCAD of dry cows, especially in the last 2 to 3 weeks before calving
• Control energy intake in both far-off and close-up cows – not too little, not too much
• Make sure supplying enough metabolizable protein before calving
• Get the feeding management right, every day
• Clean and comfortable housing and fresh water
• Manage social interactions/hierarchy
• Manage cold stress and heat stress
• High quality forage and fermentable diets for fresh cows
• Strategically use feed additives/nutritional tools (the next talk)
• Implement cow- and herd-level monitoring programs
Types of monitoring
• Cow-level
– Seeking to make a diagnosis/treatment decision on an individual animal
• Herd-level
– Periodic (e.g., weekly) evaluation of a representative sample of cows in a sampling window of interest
– Using as a barometer of the herd
Potential herd level monitors for transition cow performance and health opportunities
• Most of dairy industry works on averages
• Challenges related to nutrition/non-nutritional factors cause increases in variation in DMI/performance/metabolism
– Almost impossible to detect some of these on farms
• Potential tools for use in monitoring variation in transition cow management and subclinical opportunities
– BHBA (“gold standard” blood ketone)
– NEFA (best marker for negative energy balance)
– Calcium (getting renewed attention)
– Haptoglobin (acute-phase response/systemic inflammation)
– Rumination monitors? – other electronic monitoring?
– Variation in early lactation milk yield / Transition Cow Index (TCI)
– Urine pH – only if feeding anionic supplements, but can be great monitor of feeding management
Histogram of prevalence of subclinical ketosis (SCK) in 1,717 Holstein dairy cows undergoing repeated testing for ketosis from 3 to 16 DIM. A positive test
was defined as a blood BHBA concentration of 1.2 to 2.9 mmol/L
McArt et al., 2012. J. Dairy Sci. 95 :5056–5066
Approach for monitoring energy-related blood analytes in transition cows
• Sample size:– ~ 15 to 20 cows
• Cows to sample– Pre-partum: 14 to 2 days before calving– Post-partum: 3 to 14 DIM
• Sample to take– Serum (red top) or plasma (green top)– Don’t shake, keep cool
• What to do with sample?– BHB: Precision Extra Meter for blood; milk Ketotest in US and Canada– NEFA: Lab
• What to do with results– Interpret % above cut-point– More than 15% above cut-point indicates herd-level problem
Herd-level impacts of elevated NEFA/BHB
Metabolite level Herd
Alarm
Associated with:
PRE-Partum
NEFA > 0.3 mEq/L
15% +3.6% Disease incidence
-1.2% Pregnancy rate
- 529 lbs ME305 milk (both heifers and cows)
POST-Partum
NEFA > 0.6a - 0.7b mEq/L
15% +1.7% Disease incidenceb
- 0.9% Pregnancy ratea
Heifers: -640 lbs, Cows: - 1,272 lbs
BHB > 10a-12b* mg/dL 15%
*20%
+1.8% Disease incidenceb
-0.8% Pregnancy rateb
Heifers: -1,179 lbs*, Cows: - 732 lbsa
*15% of 15 = 2-3 animals Ospina et al., 2010
Prevalence of hyperketonemia - 55 dairy farms – Lawton and Overton, unpublished
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
<15% 15 - 25% 25 - 35% ≥35%
Proportion of cows/herd with BHBA ≥1.2 mmol/L, 3-14 DIM
Current field study (Overton, Burhans, and Nydam)Funding partners: NY Farm Viability Institute, USDA
Multistate Hatch, Poulin Grain Inc)
• Objectives:– Identify relationships between dry period nutritional strategy, fresh
period nutritional strategy, and postpartum outcomes related to health, milk yield, and reproduction.
– Determine if interactions exist between dry period nutritional strategy, fresh period nutritional strategy, and biomarkers related to the above postpartum outcomes on commercial dairy farms (focus on NEFA, BHBA, and haptoglobin)
– Identify relationships of nonnutritional factors affecting cows during the dry period and early lactation (stocking density, commingling of cows and heifers, pen moves) with postpartum health, milk yield, reproduction, and biomarkers related to these outcomes on commercial dairy farms.
General study approach
• 72 herds total across four nutritional management categories– Controlled energy one-group dry, fresh cows fed high diet
– Controlled energy one-group dry, fresh cows fed fresh diet first
– Step up (two-group) dry, fresh cows fed high diet
– Step up (two-group) dry, fresh cows fed fresh diet first
– High energy one/two group dry, fresh cows fed high diet
– High energy one/two group dry, fresh cows fed fresh diet first
• Follow cohort of cows (24 per herd) through dry period and early lactation
– BCS, lameness, calving score, blood biomarkers, metabolic disorders, milk production, reproduction
– TMR analyses and particle size as cows move through different groups/stages
Summary and conclusions
• Transition success is attainable!!!!!– Can get there in a number of ways
• Sound integration of prepartum diet formulation and feeding management are critical for success– Macrominerals/DCAD in close-up rations– Controlling energy intake in rations for far off and close up
cows– Consistency/managing particle length of prepartum diets
• Managing nonnutritional factors is critical for success– Stocking density, group changes, cow/heifer interactions,
heat stress
• Monitoring tools related to energy metabolism that are associated with clear downstream outcomes (i.e., BHBA and NEFA) can help identify opportunities for improved transition cow management