Body Condition Score

Early April is the time to start drying off lighter cows in order to allow them to gain body condition prior to calving. Gaining this body condition will reduce the risk of calving problems and metabolic issues, saving you precious time and energy during the busy calving period. Cows that are a body condition 3.5 or less should be dried off in the next couple of weeks. Cows that are BCS 4.0 need to have a strategy put in place to reach BCS 4.5 by the start of June. This may include extra feed and/or OAD milking. Light cows may also particularly benefit from a dry off drench to reduce the impact of parasites over the coming months.

Determining cows that are BCS 3.5 or less:

• Stand at the same level of the cow, don’t try and do it from the pit. You need to be able to get your hands on them.

• BCS is determined by looking at 8 key areas of the cow: the backbone, hips, rump, tail head, pins, thigh, short and long ribs (see pictures). If you haven’t body condition scored before, keep it simple and focus on the easiest areas to assess, like the backbone, hips, pins and tail head.

• Backbone - are there notches? BCS <3.5.

• Hips - place a cupped hand over the hip bone, if it doesn’t fill your cupped hand and there are dips between the hip and backbone when viewed from behind then BCS is <3.5.

• Pin bones - are they tap shaped? BCS <3.5.

• Tail head - between the tail and the pins is there any fat? Low fat will form a deep V shape.

DairyNZ has some great resources on their website, including video’s and a quiz to help you get your eye in, if you’re feeling particularly keen. Where physical distancing an be arranged our vets can continue to offer this important service.

A Mating Commentary

The calving/mating period for the 2019/20 would by many be described as ideal. Yes, feed got a little tight in late October/November, but quality reminded good and we did not have the nightmare rains of last November.

There were plenty of reports of high pre-mating activity. Good cow condition, calving patterns tightened a little as well this year and the incidence of dirty cows/per herd was also back. The average 3 weeks submission rate for our clients however remained at 80% (80% in 18/19 and 78% in 17/18 season). This is still 10% lower than the industry target figure of 90%. To attain an industry target of 78% in-calf for 6 weeks - 90% is crucial.

Pregnancy rates in the first 3 weeks averaged 44% in our practice - which sits lower than the target of 53%. for six weeks the average was 66% (up from 65% last year target 78%).

This season we had 28 farms in the practice achieving a 75% or greater for six weeks. This is a top effort and well done to all those in the honour list below. This group has grown from 18 last season.

Some of the newer tools used by our top farmers this season, were the utilisation of early season OAD milking of colostrum cows and better metabolic management through the use of calcium supplements and strategic feeding. This helps minimise condition loss and promote egg quality.

In-shed heat detection systems are increasing and have in the past proved reliable tools for those doing extended AI - providing they are properly maintained. We do find regular issues with tail paint only systems in extended AI/no bull herds where pregnant cows are often repeat mated. This increases the risk of pregnancy loss.

It is a little too early to give final not in-calf rate data.

Staph aureus screening

At the risk of putting the commentators curse on you all, it does seem that many of your pregnancy rates are likely to be better than last year. If this turns out to be correct there will be the opportunity to make some “voluntary culling decisions” this season. If improving mastitis control in your herd is a priority then consider at your last herd test doing a Staph aureus screening test. This test is done on the individual milk samples already collected at herd testing. You can either provide a list of cows you would like screened or even easier provide a list of criteria that decides which cows to screen. For example you could request only 3rd lactation or older cows with a SCC greater than 250 are screened less any cows recorded as empty. Obviously the last SCC won’t be through until after the samples have been processed so if this is something you are likely to consider doing please ring us so we can put a hold on your samples at the lab so they don’t get discarded i.e. let us know so we can warn LIC that based on the last herd test results some of the samples will be required for a Staph screen.

Lameness

The summer period is often a time when lame cow numbers increase, this can be a result of how cows have been managed in the season so far, wet weather, thin soles and stressors that have occurred during the calving period. The numbers can be made worse with people having time off.

• If we get a bout of wet weather it is worth taking the time to improve drainage off the edge of tracks. Take a spade and open up the grass, a spades width wide at regular intervals to allow water to drain off the track. The grey box shows a good spot to cut away the grass.

• If you have an underpass, keep it free of water and slurry. Make sure that sump pumps are working properly, sumps are cleaned out and pumps are turned on when it rains.

• If you have a section of lane that is chronically wet, especially just prior to the yard, consider scrapping the surface. Wet areas slow cow flow which means that more pressure has to be put on cows to get them on the yard and the moisture increases the foot problems. Scrapping lanes can damage the top surface of the lane, but these are often damaged when you get to this stage anyway, however it can allow them to dry out faster and improve cow flow. Look at a more permanent fix over the dry period.

• Have someone who can do lame cows every day or every other day. It becomes much harder to start treating doing them when there are heaps in the mob. They also get a lot worse.

Causes of Mastitis We Have Identified this Month

It seems that most of our clients are having a pretty good run mastitis wise this month. We have not noticed the almost predictable spike in number of mastitis cases and BMSCC that often occurs a couple of weeks into mating. Red mobs also seem smaller than normal so presumably there are also not many lame cows around either. There does appear to be more of you mowing in front of the cows this year. There is a very small risk that you could get a thermoduric alert/grade if the grass is mown too far in front of the cows. Prolong wilting conditions allow decomposition of the grass to occur, and then thermoduric spores are ingested and concentrated in the cows’ faeces that may contaminate the bulk milk. This happens rarely, but if you do get a thermoduric alert and the rubberware is not past its “use by date”(liners only 2500 milkings) and there are no protein deposits in the pipes this is a possibility to consider. Mowing in the dry and feeding within 36 hours should be fine.

The majority of mastitis cases we have cultured this last month have been “coliform/gram negative”bugs and thankfully they are not causing toxic cows. It is likely these represent opportunistic infections when the udder has come into contact with mud/slurry. When you get the chance, check the entrance and exit ways and give them a scrape, if they are ponding water or damp. It is invariably the area closest to the shed that is the problem (or around underpasses). Cows during AI are often using these areas more than twice a day or being held on the race near the shed. Scrape under the fence so that you do not get a ridge or gutter that prevents drainage.