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POST CALVING MANAGEMENT
Separate group You will have to maintain these heifers in the pre-calving dynamic until the animal is confirmed in calf before even considering introduction to the rest of the herd, otherwise too many stress factors will come in to play - environment, milking parlour, new companions - consequently, milk yield will be impaired together with overall health and performance.
Mixed herd
When you house your heifers throughout their first lactation with the rest of the herd then extra management will be required in terms of minimising two main stress causing factors – environment and nutrition.
PRE AND POST CALVING HEIFER DIETS
Target feed to maximise production, fertility and health with starch sources to drive oestrus and energy supply. Quality protein including some digestible undegradable (bypass) protein will help maintain growth as well as encouraging intakes. The key is to feed with good energy density and balance between energy and protein without feeding an excess of concentrates.
1. Environment: Are your collecting yard and parlour entrances designed to encourage relaxed and confident heifers, or are they being bullied and under stress? When it's the former, heifers should be happy to stand and let their milk down easily. When the latter, cortisol from the stress in these early days will have a negative impact on follicular development and, therefore, make it harder to get these animals back in calf – so take a fresh look at yard layout, design and stocking densities.
2. Nutrition: Are your heifers maximising intakes to create a healthy rumen? When you feed a full TMR system and first lactation animals are housed separately, then they can be offered a diet that optimises their need to grow and achieve 95% mature weight by 36 months, as well as milk and get back in calf.
• In parlour feeding: This enables first lactation animals to be fed directly, but the feed needs to target their requirements as a priority and at levels that still optimise trough mix intakes and keeps these animals healthy.
• Out of parlour feeders: As above, however, issues could arise when these feeders do not have rear anti-bullying gates. Older cows may annoy the younger animals while they
are feeding to the point where they leave the feeder without finishing their allocation and the older cow gets the extra. This behaviour will be difficult to monitor without actually watching cows over a period of time. First lactation animals may also be reluctant to visit these strange machines when they have not experienced them before and this may lead to stress and under feeding while they get used to them. Similar heifer experiences may occur in herds with robotic milking systems.
• Feeding troughs and feed faces: Consider the restrictions in place. Are locking yokes being used, particularly in early lactation, to help with vet checks and fresh cow checks? If so, have heifers been exposed to them before entering the milking herd because when they haven’t some animals may be put off by them and this again will lead to reduced feed intake and health issues. A good solution is to have at least part of the feed access with just a rail.
3. Housing: When mixed with older cows, freshly calved heifers need good access to feed and easy opportunities to eat without being bullied. A two-row cubicle system will be better than a three-row as it will allow more feed space, a recommended 45cm (1.5’) per animal.
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