For those herds taking advantage of the best milk prices and calving in July and August looking after the dry cow this month has to be a priority.

How would you like to:

• Improve fertility?
• Reduce mastitis?

Sounds too good to be true but these are all possible by managing the dry cows better. Many of the health problems associated with higher yielding dairy cows are triggered by management in the dry period. Some surveys suggest at least a 30% reduction in health problems can be achieved by correct dry cow management. By using our new EXCEL PRE-CALVER ROLLS we can significantly influence the following

Infertility

Cows not cycling? Poor conception rates?

There must be something wrong with my current diet. Although improper diets in early lactation can cause infertility, many of the problems go back to the dry period.

A cow does not produce a new follicle on the day of heat. The follicle produced can have started life during the dry period. If the cow is short of energy then the quality of the egg produced later will be poor leading to silent heat or low conception rates.

Cows with milk fever and retained cleansings are much more difficult to get in calf. The average incidence of retained cleansing is now 11% compared to 5% ten years ago. Proper nutrition providing adequate energy and vitamins will help reduce these levels. Current thinking about milk fever suggests that high levels of potash and sodium linked to lower levels of magnesium may be the cause rather than calcium levels. Low and high levels of calcium in the dry cow diet leads to lower efficiency of use. It is very hard to get calcium levels to less than 50 gms/day even if feeding a non-calcium supplement and attention needs to be paid to the other minerals present.

Excel Pre-Calver Rolls offer you

• Enhanced mineral and vitamin package to provide good herd health by meeting higher requirements for vitamins A, D and E to maintain immunity to disease during this important stage of pregnancy.
• New selected energy sources to provide increased rumen activity to promote fewer calving problems and increase post calving feed intakes for increased milk production.
• Improve protein quality to provide high levels of ESSENTIAL AMINO ACIDS (building blocks of protein) to maintain good protein body reserves for sustained milk production in early lactation.

Mastitis

During the latter stages of the dry period the cows immune system is challenged. This is the period when colostrum production is starting, so any reduction in quality can effect the calf post calving.

Feeding EXCEL PRE-CALVER ROLLS supplies the cow with high quality protein sources and necessary vitamins and minerals to help to maintain a healthy immune system. Once the cow calves this then helps her to be more resistant to mastitis and other diseases.

Fat cows (condition score of 3.5 plus) will tend to mobilise excess body weight at calving, as will others when the rumen is not prepared for the post calving diet. Further weight loss at this time may lead to a depletion of energy sources in the liver and the risk of liver problems. Such pressure and stress upon the cow at this important time especially if there is liver damage will also significantly reduce the ability of the cows immune system and her ability to challenge disease.

If you want to know more about this exciting product, please contact the office or your local agent.

So be careful and check what you are purchasing. Are you gett