Block calving bottlenecks

Excess rainfall in November brought an abrupt end to animals being outside. All stock is now housed and focus turns to full winter feeding for dry cows and replacements.
With calving to begin around February, the in-calf heifers will now also be classified as dry cows. To follow previous articles, there are a few simple things to look out for and to complete to make sure this period and subsequent calving are successful. 

Body condition 

They should, ideally, be in a calving condition around 3-3.25. Holstein cows will be on the lower side of this, and British Friesian type cows will be on the higher side of this. I outlined in previous articles how to arrive at this score. There are also plenty of videos online to help you arrive at this score. If your cows are too thin or too fat, change will need to happen slowly at this stage, but it is important you know that it needs addressing and have a plan for it. 

Silage quality

Everyone should have a silage analysis and based on the ME or UFL (energy) of the silage and the intake of these cows – once they have settled on a diet after a week or 10 days – will determine if they will gain or lose condition during the dry period. While articles will quote 11kg of intake for a dry cow, in reality they will consume more than this once offered ad lib feed. If overall energy intake is not determined, you could end up with thin cows in February with no reserves for the demands of production or fat cows which increases the risk of metabolic issues at calving 

Silage potash level

If your K level is >1.8 per cent in your silage mineral test then you might need to address this with minerals and additional magnesium. Feeding a high-quality mineral is important for the full dry period and if cows are still milking for the next week or two the addition of a mineral is important here too. Feeding a good mineral all the time will achieve better results than just penning it all on the dry cow mineral. 

Bottlenecks 

In a spring calving system, especially when cows calve, dry cows are the ones that must compete for space – lying, water, feed, etc. Have a look in the holding and the calving area and see if you can identify one change that you could make to a gate, feed barrier, additional lying area out the back of a shed, or additional water access, that can remove a bottleneck. This will alleviate stress in the system for the cow, reducing issues around the transition period and, ultimately, will result in less work for yourself. While it is easy to blame the minerals or the diets, restrictions on the animal’s comfort and flow in the system can sometimes be the biggest culprit.
It can be sometimes hard to get our head around some of these reports, measurements and changes and to understand these you need to be doing it consistently. For this reason, it is important to speak to a trusted advisory source if you are unsure about these points. They can also give you a more honest appraisal of where you are at and what the best solution is.