Dairy notes April 2008
April Grazing Management
The relatively mild conditions of the past winter have provided good grass growth on fields closed off since last October/November. With covers of over 3000 KG dry-matter/ ha on the best fields, the opportunity for early April turn-out exists on many farms.
Turn cows out for two to three hours per day as soon as possible. In addition to the immediate financial benefits of reduced feed costs and improved protein levels and higher yields, early turn-out makes it easier to maintain grazing quality throughout the rest of the year.
Grazing is possible, even on heavy land, provided access is good and cows are encouraged to graze aggressively for the short period they are out.
- Ensure cows go out with an edge on their appetite
The majority of concentrates should be fed in the evening.
The feed passage should be cleared up by morning milking.
If necessary hold the cows in the cubicle house for one to two hours after morning milking, especially if it is raining.
The feed passage should be cleared up by morning milking.
If necessary hold the cows in the cubicle house for one to two hours after morning milking, especially if it is raining.
- Graze as square an area as possible. Cows tend to walk around more and leave grass behind in long narrow paddocks.
- Use a back-fence to ensure cows are only on an area for one grazing. This will reduce poaching damage and protect re-growth – with grazing time restricted cows will take two to three times longer than normal to graze out a paddock.
- Leave the cows out for only three hours. Most damage occurs when the cows have finished grazing.
To reduce nutritional stress at turn-out:
- Reduce the amount of concentrates fed through TMR or out-of-parlour feeders and increase parlour feeding levels a few days before turn-out.
- Order the 16-18 percent grazing concentrate before turn-out and allow it to mix in the storage bin with the winter ration.
- Graze for only two to three hours/ day at first, increasing gradually to eight to nine hours by day 10.
- Increase the level of silage being fed to compensate for any sudden changes in weather conditions.
Heat detection
With a slippage in calving pattern being a significant feature in many dairy herds this past year, there are going to be more cows than usual to serve after turn-out. For herds using AI a heat detection aid such as tail painting could prove very useful.
Apply a 10 cm wide strip of paint along the tail head to all not confirmed in calf. Check the cows at milking time – a rubbed stripe is likely to indicate heat activity. Check your records and serve as appropriate or up-date the heat records to identify cows which are not cycling.
Tail painting and record keeping will also prove useful where a bull is being used. Rubbed tail paint will help you identify cows which have been served, allowing you to record a service date - aiding future decisions on drying off date and dry cow antibiotic use. The records will also let you identify early if there is a bull fertility problem. Changing paint colour after a cow has been served will help to identify non-cycling cows needing veterinary attention.
Water supply
Clean water should always be available to the herd. Cows have a sensitive sense of smell so ensure that all troughs are cleaned before turn-out. . Because dairy cows are sociable in their behaviour, it is important that there is adequate trough space for at least 10 percent of the herd to drink at any one time. Each cow needs 700 mm of trough space.
The herds peak water demands occur at the end of milking and around sunset. Around 50 percent of their daily requirement can be consumed at these times, so it is important to provide adequate trough capacity and flow rates to meet these peak demands. As a rule of thumb, cows require five litres of water for every litre of milk they produce.
Despite their high demand for water, cows will not walk long distances metres specifically to drink, so troughs should be positioned with 250 metres of the grazing area if yield is not to be restricted. Consider using a mobile trough, which can be shifted round the grazing area – particularly useful when using a back fence.
