Dairy and Beef production (ANSI 209):

programme
Component Periods Lecturer

1 Dairy Production 5-6 weeks Ignatius

2 Beef Production 4-5 weeks Ignatius

 Essays
1 A two page essay on Dry cow therapy 14/10/2020

2 Write a two page essay on heat and heat detection in cows 21/10/2020

3 A three page essay on Body condition score 04/11/2020

 CARING AND HANDLING OF DAIRY
CATTLE
HORNS
TREES
GROUP SIZE – CALVES <6 months or age
1. Do not rear in isolation;
2. Rear in groups of 10 calves of less;
1. Similar age group to reduce influence of competition for food and
shelter;
2. Weigh every 14 days;
3. Cull calves that are small for their age (ie 15% lighter than average).

GROUP SIZE – HEIFER <12 months of age

1. 40 heifer/group if ample grazing exist or concentrate is fed individually;
2. Group by age ensuring a 2 months difference between oldest and youngest;
3. Weigh regularly and check against breed targets;
4. In feedlots group size should be 15 heifers;
5. Run heifers that are more than 12 months of age with dry cows.
Group size
GROUP SIZE – COWS
1. Avoid large groups that are greater than 150 cows b/ce
1. Increased frequency of social interaction
1. Reduce duration of feeding activity;
2. Trampling and soiling of pasture.
2. More time is required to move large groups to the parlour;
3. Milking time becomes too long.

• Ideal group size is 50-70 cows

• Instant recognition of members of a group;
• Impractical in most farms.

• Compromise group size of 90-120 cows

• Never to exceed 150 cows/group;
• Need enough space in pasture and feed trough to allow free access.

• Strategy: group by lactation/production stage

• Necessary in case of TMR system of feed;
• Need 3-4 production groups;
• Group by lactation stage in order to facilitate heat spotting and/or if bulls are
used in a herd.
Group size
COW grouping and pasture system
1. Contradictory views whether grouping is necessary;
1. Providing high quality roughage and high concentrate to high producing cows
might predispose them to acidosis;
2. Low producers can be given good quality roughage without concentrate.

Group size and milking parlour

1. Group cows such that a group spends 1.5-2hrs/milking session;
2. Provide feeding in the waiting yards if cows spend longer periods.

Grouping dry cows

1. Dry cows are closer to calving than other cows;
2. Separate dry cows to ensure safe calving;
3. Dry cows have lesser nutritional needs than milking cows;
4. In order to reduce post calving bullying run heifers with the milking group for 2-3
weeks in the period before the week of her due date.
Stockmanship
1. Self-confident introverts
1. Quiet confident handling;
2. Takes time to pat and chat to the cow.

• Sticks, whips and prodders

• Not to be used at all in a dairy farm.

• Heifer training for milking

• SM have to be patient when bringing heifers to the parlour for the 1st time;
• Training must begin several weeks before calving;
• Use best milkers for training;
• The heifer may need her calf’s presence during the first milking.

• Sensitivity to training
1. Normally dairy cows are docile and unexcitable (phlegmatic)
2. Cows get more aggressive during the peri-natal period;
3. Cows require good experience during calving for her to milk well;
1. Due to hormonal (oxytoxin and adrenaline) interaction
2. Bad training implies that she will need to calve again before a bad habit
can be corrected.
 Stress
1. Udder stress
1. Poor hygiene;
2. Tissue damage;
3. Hurrying cows to and from pasture;
4. mud/ dirt
5. Monitored using somatic cell count (SCC).

Cell count/ml Severity of % cows Lost milk Milk quality

Mastiitis affected production %
<250000 Low <20 <5 Good-V.good
250,000 - 499,000 Moderate <20 10 Moderate to suspect
500,000 - 749,000 Unsatisfactory 20-40 12 Unsatisfactory
750,000 - 999,000 Serious 40-60 15 Unfit
>1,000,000 Very serious 60-80 18 Unfit
Stressor (climate)
1. Heat stress
1. High environmental temperatures;
2. High humidity accentuates the problem;
3. THI =0.4 (Tdb +Twb) + 6.61,
THI is temperature humidity index
where Tdb &Twb are dry and wet bulb temperatures respectively
4. THI of 23 is the upper limit for Holstein-Friesland cows.

Ideal Temp -1 to +15

Acceptable range -15 to +27
Holstein-Frieslands 27 max
Jerseys 30 max
Brahmans 35 max
< -15 Increased FI and decreased milk production
> 20 -24 Decreased FI
> 38 Ceasure of feed consumption
> 32-35 Severe milk loss and drop in fertility
Stressor (climate)

Strategy (hot conditions)

1. Milk three times a day;
2. Milk early mornings (5:30) and early afternoon (14:00h);
3. Provide good night grazing;
4. Provide ample cold water during grazing;
5. Shower cows on pasture using an irrigation system;
6. Provided good quality feed (silage) in the waiting yard during mid day milking;
7. Use heat tolerant breeds;
8. No need for shade trees.

Cold stress (low temperatures)

1. Not a problem in South Africa
2. Keep calves in draught-free (wind free) and dry housing;
3. Establish windbreaks along boundaries of pasture;
4. Establish fodder banks in snow areas.
Mud and dirt
1. Mastitis, footrot and stress;
2. Put concrete in waiting area around the parlour;
3. Roads to pasture should consist of hard surfaces.
Water availability
Water requirement
1. Animal Factors:
1. Physiological state, Age, Rate of gain, Live mass, Breed
2. Weather
3. 4 - 7 litres/ kg feed DM consumed
4. Iw = 12.3 + 2.15Id + 0.73M
Where Iw = water intake
Id = Dry matter intake
M = Live mass
5. Note: 30% of daily water is consumed about 1 hr after mid-day milking

Water quality
1. Clean water:
1. Total dissolved solids must be less than 0.5%;
2. Ducks must have no access to troughs;
3. Temperature should be less than or equal to 24oC.
Water troughs

Water Troughs
1. Must offer drinking space to 10% of the herd at a time;
2. Each cow needs 0.45 m of drinking space;
3. Water level in troughs should be LQ 0.9 m from ground level;
4. Expected drinking rate: 16-27 l/minute or 20 l at a time;
5. Slow inflow rates go with large troughs while fast inflow rate go with small
troughs;
6. Inflow rates should be:
700 l/hr/100 cows for large capacity troughs;
2500 l/hr/100cows for large capacity troughs.
Flies, ticks and parasites
Flies
1. Spread diseases (eye infection);
2. Prevention
1. Avoid raising calves on deep litter;
2. Dairy effluent must be disposed of properly;
3. Spray regularly using appropriate insecticides

Ticks (acaricide)
1. Specific to bioclimatic area and farm;
2. Consult local vet for appropriate treatment.

Internal parasites
1. Dose young cattle regularly;
2. Dose adults for liver fluke only; adults cattle do not require any other dosing;
3. Consult local vet for appropriate treatment.
Ration balancing
Avoid excess N (CP) b/ce it can
1. Reduced intake of feed;
2. Reduced fertility;
3. Increased energy for excretion;
4. Interfere with vit A metabolism;
5. Lead to bloat (particularly for well fertilized pastures).

Avoid energy (soluble CHO)

1. Acidosis and other metabolic diseases;
Use 40% or more roughage in the diet.

Minerals
1. Excess K in pasture induces Ca and Mg deficiencies;
2 Avoid giving excess Ca or P to cows 2-4 weeks before calving;
3 Give excess Ca or P to cows 2-3 days before calving
Adaptation, acclimatization, walking cost

Adaptation
1. Cattle per se need to adapt to their routine;
2. Ruminal microbes need ~14days to adapt to new diets;
3. Implications: Bring new cows into a farm when they are dry or during late lactation.

Acclimatization
1. Consider prevalent diseases and climate;
2. Implications: Bring in cows from areas facing similar problems.

Walking and climbing costs

1. 0.6 l of milk/3 km walk up an elevation of 50;
2. Time (that otherwise would be used for resting and ruminating);
3. Tiredness, reduces grazing.
4. Implications: Pastures should be 1.5 km from parlour and below 30 m elevation .
 Problem 2
The policy is to use two bulls to cover 100 cows for two
ADSRI 6/91
Milk Butterfat Protein
years and to produce own replacement. The herd
RVI: 118 124 116 119 conception rate stands at 80%, the replacement rate at
Milk R% 67
25%, and cows spend on average 4 lactations in the
Herds 24 herd. If (i) the new bull (described in this Table) is being
Eff. Daugs. 30
EPD (kg) +537'
used together with an average bull, (ii) the average
Butterfat Perc. BF 3.52 lactation milk yield is 5000 kg, and (iii) a kg of milk
Diff (%) -0.10 costs R2.00, estimate the financial superiority of this
Protein Perc. Prot 3.2
Diff (%) -0.06 bull relative to the average bull. [Make any number of
assumptions]
Calving ease B Red Factor

Daily milk yield (kg/cow)

Problem 3 Change at this point
40
The graph represents milk production of cows 35
over five lactations in a dairy farm. However, 30
25
during the firth lactation, there was a change 20
of management as indicated in the graph. Milk 15
yield responded to this change and was 10
5
accompanied by a concurrent drop in milk fat. 0
Identify and justify the critical areas you will 0 4 8 12 16 20 24 28 32 36 40
observe and or examine to help make an Lactation period
informed decision about the source of the
Lact 1 Lact 3 Lact 5
problem.
Diagramatic representation of event in the intercalving period of
a dairy cow

Intercalving period

Lactation period

Gestation period

Open Dry
period period

Voluntary Breeding
Waiting period
period

Calving Conception Dry Calving

 Dry and post-parturient cow

Why dry cows?

1. Involution of udder
Break down of secretory tissue;
New set of secretory cells are formed;
~6 weeks is needed for cell renewal;
Loss of >= 30% of subsequent lactation yield if there is no dry period.
2. Foetal development
~60% foetal weight is gained during the last 8 weeks, which
approximates to 0.75 kg/day. Cow needs to be properly fed to ensure
foetal growth.
 Why dry cows?
3. Replenishment of body energy reserves (Energy)

Thin cows require more to replensih than fat one;

Max gains should range between 20-25 kg;
Putting more than 0.5 units of CS/dry period is undesirable because this
could induce dystocia and metabolic problems;
FCE is ~48% during the dry period as opposed to 62 % during lactation.

4. Replenishment of body mineral reserves

Ca + P reserves in the body are depleted during lactation;

Adequate mineral nutrition is thus required.
Dry cow ….

How long should cows be dried?

1. Ideally for 56 days;

2. Dry periods of less than 45 days will result to depressed milk production
b/ce sufficient time is not allowed for the udder to involute;
3. Longer dry periods lead to
• cows that are too fat;
• Milk loss in proportion to the number of extra days above 56 days.

When should cows be dried?

1. Ideally 56 days from the recalving date; or

2. When cow’s milk yield is too low for milking to be cost effective:
• ~ 5 l per day. This value will vary seasonally based on the need to build
quotas.
3. Drying off should occur 224 days from the last service date.
Dry cow ….

How should cows be dried off?

1. Cut out concentrate for 3-4 days;

2. Keep cows on poor roughage for 3-4 days;
3. Isolate the cow to make her ‘unhappy’;
4) If milk yield >20 l/day
• Leave the cow unmilked for 2-3 milking;
• Then milk for the last time.
5) Consult the vet to decide on the appropriate dry cow therapy for most
prevalent mastitis agents
• Disinfect ends of teats;
• Insert dry cow therapy in each quarter;
• Dip teats.
Dry cow / calving

Management during the dry period?

1. Proper nutrition is required to ensure growth of foetus and replenishment of
body reserves;
2. Daily concentrate feed should not exceed 0.5% of BW ;
3. If roughage quality is good (ME GT 9.6 MJ/kg of DM) then feed only
mineral supplements.
4) Avoid diets that are high in Ca & P. (No legumes e.g. lucerne).

Nutritional management at calving?

1. If dung is firm, then feed a laxative diet (e.g. wheat bran) a few days to
calving;
2. Feed low levels of concentrate at calving in order to avert problems such as
acidosis, laminitis and oedematous udders ;
3. Increase concentrate at a rate of 1 kg/d from the day of calving until the
desired maximum.
Calving
Management of cow at calving
1. Note that a cow is most sensitive to environmental stimuli during calving;
2. Calving should be on a clean pasture or maternity stall;
3. No cow in milk should be allowed at her vicinity because of theft;
4) Horses and dogs should not be present.
Management of calf
1. A calf must get colostrum immediately after birth (with LQ 12-18 hrs);
2. Remove calf from mother within 24 hrs ;
3. Note that calf suckling promotes the production of oxytocin which causes
contraction of the uterus and assist in expelling the after birth.

Management of heifers at calving

1. Heifers need special handling during calving;
2. Heifers need training to milking routine during the pre-partum period ;
3. Heifers may need their calves’ presence in the parlour during first few
milkings.
Assistance during calving

1. Needed only when labour exceeds 3 hrs;

2. Restrain her if need be in a hospital pen;
3. Wash own hands with antiseptics;
4. Identify the problem, correct the presentation if need be or otherwise seek
the assistance of a vet;
5. Use calving ropes and pull downwards towards the hooks in rhythm with her
contractions and pushing;
6. Expect a retained placenta after assisting a cow. Cut the after birth short
enough to prevent any one getting a grip on it;
7. Retained placenta lead to metritis, which delays re-conception.
Post partum metabolic disorders
Milk Fever
1. Hypocalcemia: Low blood calcium;
2. Occurs within days 1-2 of calving;
3. Characterized by progressive paralysis, shock and death;
4. More common in older cows than in first calvers;
5. Treatment:
1. Intravenous injection of 6-12 g calcium (usually as
100-200 g Calcium borogluconate in a 25% solution).
6. Preventive measures
1. Abminister the above solution subcutaneously at
calving to: (a) cows with a history of milk fever and
(b) prevent relapse;
2. Feed calcium deficient diets for two weeks before the
expected week of calving;
3. Increase Ca and P intake by 50 g/d 2-3 days before
calving;
4. Do not overfeed Ca/P in the dry period by feeding
lucerne or same meal as fed to cows in milk.
 Metabolic problems….
Ketosis
1. Characterized by lethalgy, dulness and lack of appetite;
2. Cows smell of acetone;
3. Prevent by ensuring cows do not get too fat during the dry period.

Grass staggers
1. Hypomagnesaemia: Low Mg concentration in the blood;
2. Low [Mg] is not necessarily associated with calving (i.e. can occur at any time);
3. This problem is common in well fertilized cultivated pastures;
4. Prevention:
• add Mg in diet or water;
• Dose with Mg bullets;
• Dust pasture with MgO.
 Metabolic problems…
Acidosis / Laminitis
1. Occurs when
1. Cows receive too much concentrate in relation to roughage ;
2. Diet is changed rapidly from low to high concentrate diets.
2. Rumen pH drops below 5.2;
3. Marked drop in butter fat.
Laminitis: Painful inflamation of the lamina of the hooves

Prevention
• Concentrate should not be overfed in proportion to roughage;
• Slowly build up concentrate intake to the desired level;
• Feed roughage with long fibre;
• Restrict the proportion of readily fermentable carbohydrates;
• Use buffers (e.g. NaHCO3 at the rate of 100-200/cow/day).
 Metabolic problems
Displaced Abomasum
1. Due to overload of the abomasum with unfermented starch;
2. Continued fermentation of starch produces gas, distends the
abomasum which lacks muscle tone and ceases to expel its content;
3. The abomasum becomes trapped under the rumen.
4. Need vet intervention

Prevention
1. Provide sufficient roughage in the diet
Calcium requirements (g/d)

100

80

60

40

22 38 0 4
Weeks of lactation
Diagramatic representation of event in the intercalving period of
a dairy cow

Intercalving period

Lactation period

Gestation period

Breeding Dry
period period

Voluntary Breeding
Waiting period
period

Calving Conception Dry Calving