Turning Off the Tap

/

May has arrived so cows will start to be dried off. Regardless of what products you are using they will work best if they are applied correctly to cows that are well dried down and have a low milk volume (< 10 litres at final milking)

  • A well dried off udder will retain a high concentration of dry cow antibiotic in the udder tissue/residual milk and is less likely to lose internal teat sealant.

  • A poorly dried off udder will have high risk of losing teat sealant, delayed teat plug formation and will end up with lower dry cow antibiotic concentration in the udder tissue due to systemic re-absorption.

For cows currently producing > 1.5kg MS/day it can be challenging to shut down milk production. Reducing both the energy and protein component of the diet will have the greatest effect.

7 days out from dry off

  • Drive production down to 1.0kgMS/day.

  • Requires 150MJME/day (~12-13kgDM) with <16% CP.

  • Stop in shed feeding of concentrates.

3 days out from dry off

  • A big focus should be on abruptly cutting back high protein fresh grass while keeping the cows’ content and full. Use ad lib straw for additional gut fill and udder hygiene.

  • Consider going backwards on your round into paddocks which have been recently grazed rather than giving the herd a very small break of grass.

  • Aim for little to no production by dry-off.

  • Requires 90MJME/day pre and 80MJME post.

  • This is ~9-8kgDM, with 12% CP.