April 28 2017 08:47 AM

Fresh Cows - Management for Best Behavior!

The information below has been supplied by dairy marketers and other industry organizations. It has not been edited, verified or endorsed by Hoard’s Dairyman.

Listen in on this 'Big Fat Idea' on managing fresh cows for best behavior...highlights from Dr. Trevor DeVries (University of Guelph) at the 2017 Western Dairy Management Conference in Reno. Dr. DeVries' message focuses on how to promote feed intake in early lactating dairy cows and why that is critical for the improvement and maintenance of milk production and health.

Here are the key things to remember in improving feeding behavior in your fresh cows:
  1. Fresh cow diets should be formulated to maximize eating time and DMI
  2. Maximize the opportunities for cows to go to the bunk across the day
  3. Overcrowding must avoided for fresh cow pens
  4. Minimize group changes & keep 1st lactation separate to decrease social stress
To Read

We at Virtus Nutrition believe that Fatty Acids Matter. Big Fat Ideas from The Fatty Acid Forum is an email series created to highlight key concepts in fatty acid nutrition for dairy cattle in a simple and impactful way: One Big Fat Idea at a Time. Be sure to forward to a friend, client or colleague to share the knowledge and improve the returns from fatty acids in your dairy cow diets! Sponsored by Virtus Nutrition.