Austrian Farmers Advised on Dry Cow Strategy

AUSTRIA – Monitoring cow health and performance through the dry period should be a top priority this autumn, the Land Chamber has said.
calendar icon 24 September 2013
clock icon 1 minute read

Austrian cattlemen have been told to monitor feed intake and body condition score to gauge suckler and dairy cow health because of the knock-on effects on fertility and yield later in the year.

The Chamber says that monitoring faecal consistency can also provide valuable information on feeding and this in turn can improve udder health, fertility and yield by ensuring cow vigour.

When feeding, farmers have been warned about dust particles settling on forage as this can impact ‘rumen flora’ and lead to poor performance and susceptibility to metabolic disease.

The Chamber has prescribed the ideal dairy cow dry period as six to eight weeks before calving.

Furthermore, a condition score off 3.5 on the land chamber scale is recommended as optimal. This is assessed by weight around the tail head and buttocks.

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