Lameness: The last few weeks have been hard on cows’ feet. Roadways are wet, which softens the hoof and leaves it more prone to injury from stones and other objects. I see a lot of cows walking gingerly at the moment. Hoof parers are busy, as they’re in high demand. The grazing season coming to a close on most farms means that cows won’t be walking as much, which will help to prevent new cases.

However, housing cows is not the panacea for lameness. Digital dermatitis or mortellaro spreads in cubicle sheds. This is a bacterial infection that spreads in cow dung, so hygiene in sheds is a key point of defence. The amount of mortellaro on Irish farms is probably over estimated. A previous Teagasc study found that it was widely misdiagnosed. Either way, prevention of all lameness should be a top priority. Keeping the hoof as clean and dry as possible is the best way to control lameness or foul when housed.

Foot bathing should be part of the weekly routine. What to use in the footbath is debatable. An increasing number of top farmers in Europe, where digital dermatitis is the main issue, are using clean water with nothing added, but are foot bathing daily. There will be a session on lameness prevention and treatment at Dairy Day on 19 November.

Drying off: Research says that abrupt drying off is better than prolonging it. Cows milking up to 10l can be dried off relatively quickly and successfully. Cows milking over 10l that need to be dried off require a bit more management. Reducing the plane of nutrition before and after drying off is better (reduces SCC) than going on once a day milking. Intermittent milking (skipping a day before drying off) increases the risk of mastitis. Feeding a maintenance-only diet (10kg to 12kg DM) for the first week after drying off will help to speed up closure of the teat canal and udder involution.

Keep cows in really clean conditions for the first fortnight after drying off. In an ideal world, this would be a location away from the parlour so the sound of milking doesn’t trigger milk let down. Keep cubicles clean and use extra lime or disinfectant for the first two weeks after drying off, until the teat canal is sealed.

Weanlings: On many farms, in-calf heifers are now over fat. I know it was a particularly good year with an early turnout, but are heifers being overcooked? We know from research that heifers above target weight at calving are as problematic as heifers that are underweight at calving. Will these fat heifers lose a lot of condition after calving and will that contribute to poor fertility next year?

There’s a lot of cost incurred in rearing heifer calves and I wonder how much of it is money well spent. Look at this years’ weanling heifers. If they are on target weight now (40% of mature liveweight or 230kg), maybe you can get away with feeding little or no meal this winter? Perhaps you can afford to be under target weight now, knowing you’ll catch up next season?

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