Maureen Hanson shares takeaways from a recently published collection in the Journal of Dairy Science authored by Kathryn Proudfoot and Juliana Huzzey. Highlights include:
- Primiparous cows face new experiences outside of their control during transition.
- Primiparous and multiparous cows have different social, feeding and lying behaviors.
- When regrouped, primiparous cows experience more competition than older cows.
- The milking parlor elicits a stress response that negatively affects milk letdown.
- Dairy producers should provide special care to primiparous cows during transition.
Source: Dairy Herd Management, November 17, 2022. Link. From the study abstract: Dairy cows experience several challenges during transition, including pain associated with pregnancy and labor, social stressors associated with pen moves, changes in diet, and navigating new routines that include daily milking in a parlor or automatic milking system.
For cows calving for the first time, these experiences may be particularly challenging compared with those animals who have calved previously.
INSIGHTS: Hanson references a survey of Minnesota dairy producers which revealed that milking first-calf heifers for the first time was noted as the most challenging factor influencing optimal cattle flow on the farm.
For animal health pros serving dairies, providing collaboration and coaching for cows in transition will add value for producers and increase the value in ongoing relationships.
Consider sending the article to dairy producers who routinely add replacement heifers to their milking strings.