Each dairy cattle breed has its perks and its quirks, and Jerseys are no exception. On our Hoard’s Dairyman Farm, we certainly notice differences in personality and behavior between our Jerseys and...

Just like humans, cows display sidedness behavior. Maybe you have noticed a cow that always lays down on its right side or is a huge fan of the left side of the milking parlor

What do you consider a successful transition for a dairy cow? Is success measured by the absence of disease? A cow’s ability to ramp up milk production? Breeding back with relative ease?

Walking through a boggy section of pasture or swampy wetland, landowners in the Northeast may never see one of its oldest inhabitants — the bog turtle. At only 4 inches across, it’s also one...

Transition cow success has improved on many dairies in the last 20 years. Many dairy producers have effectively focused on improved cow comfort during the transition period

As we evaluate fiber in dairy cow rations, one major question that arises is: “What is the interaction between fiber digestibility and particle size, and how does it affect the cow?”

“Bolstering transition cow immunity” was the title of the September Hoard’s Dairyman webinar

Cows are creatures of habit, and as such, they are prone to skipping meals if food is not available when they visit the bunk

Sheila McGuirk, D.V.M., called a 1982 interview for a founding position on the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine faculty “a heaven-sent interview.”

A logical conclusion drawn by some dairy producers is that cows that produce large amounts of milk early in lactation don’t breed back as well

In order to get on their feet and get back into reproductive form, research has shown that a good fresh period is essential for cows

It was time. My old truck, Logwagon, was approaching 300,000 miles. John, our mechanic, had hauled it back from a farm call more than an hour away twice

It’s been estimated that 2 percent of America’s cows are now milked with robots. That number climbs to nearly 15 percent when looking north of the border

Not quite a year ago, the first dairy company said they would make the transition to selling dairy products that had been produced by cows that were fed feeds free of genetically modified organisms (GMOs)

Grouping strategies have a huge impact on cows’ lactations and lifetime production

We all have learned a lot more about the importance of facilities and cow comfort by studying cows housed in freestall barns, which may include turn-out lots on dirt or pasture

Cows in early lactation have markedly higher energy requirements, which are not entirely met by energy intake. As a result, cows mobilize fat reserves to compensate for the negative energy balance

A class of Brown Swiss cows for you to practice on, with a placing, cuts, and an example set of reasons by Kennedy Crothers

Most dairy producers invest in an automatic milking system to reduce the need for hired labor. As an added bonus, many herds milked with robots go up in production

very dairy has cows with chronic high somatic cell counts (SCC). My definition of a chronic high SCC cow is one that has a SCC of 400,000 or higher for two or more consecutive tests