Juliette Albrecht is a contributing member of the Irish Dexter Cattlemen, who was born and raised in the dairy industry. She has helped a fellow IDC member save their cow. Look for her articles each month and for past articles in the Gazette.
Juliette also runs two Facebook groups. One is under her name. The other is called The Science of Owning Dairy Cattle.
☆☆ Milk Fever
It scares so many dairy cow owners, and for a rightful reason. However I hope that I can shed some light on it and take away a bit of that fear. Hypocalcemia (milk fever) is brought on by the sudden demand for calcium that comes prior to delivery and directly afterwards. This taps her muscles, which carry that, heavily. In a pre calving scenario it will affect labor, since the cow needs muscles to contract. Often in this case she will need assistance. Characterized by lethargic movement, dull, dark eyes, and drop in body temperature, it can also lead to her going “down.”
●● Prevention
First calf heifers are less prone to this, but it CAN happen in them. Commonly it affects 3rd lactation and beyond. From the time she delivers her calf you are either setting her up for a great following lactation, or one doomed to fail. It all start with NUTRITION. Dairy cattle are beautiful, but oh so delicate. She needs fiber, energy, starch, protein, bypass protein and minerals to simply survive. (Keep an eye out for Mariah Gull and her weekly posts regarding this subject!) When a cow calves in she loses body weight rather rapidly. During this time she “milks off” condition. Peak is considered to be day 30 to 90 in milk. If she is being fed correctly, she will not become too thin. Coupled with a good deworming protocol, she will slowly regain weight. At roughly day 80 she ideally will be bred back, and than her body weight will continue to rise. Grain should rise as she peaks to meet her milk volume, than slowly decrease as it falls. If she goes into late stage lactation either too thin or on the alternate, overweight, she is being setup for metabolic problems. During the dry period I either cut grain off completely (during spring and summer grazing, when forage quality is high) or feed a 2 to 3 lb per head feeding rate during the fall and winter.
Transition refers to the time before estimated due date. This commonly starts at 3 weeks out from calving, and technically extends to 30 days in milk. This is my protocol.
1) stop salt access, as it increases the chance of edema.
2) feed either a high fiber, grassy hay or have her graze similar.
3) feed 3 lbs a day of our parlor grain (18 percent protein)
4) top dress with the negative DCAD Soy Chlor
Five to seven days prior to delivery her appetite will drop. If it is significant I give B Complex.
On this protocol I see very little metabolic problems. However I always give Bovikalc to…
A) an assisted birth
B) twins
C) a cow with a known history for metabolic problems (milk fever, metritis, ketosis)
Should she go down, IV calcium is the only way to get her back up.
A cow that has had milk fever typically never reaches her full potential in milk volume for that lactation.