Drying off
Drying-off group
On the drying-off day you aim for a milk production to be below 15 kg/day. This will be the case with some cows and you can dry them off straight away. Other cows will be giving more milk - some may still have a lot more to give. You can encourage them to dry off by feeding them lower quality feed.
Remove the cows you want to dry off from the herd 4 to 7 days beforehand and put them in a separate group where they will be fed the same feed as the far-off group. They need to be able to drink as much as they want. Keep milking them twice a day. If a cow being dried off has clinical mastitis, treat her first and only dry her off when she has recovered.
Condition scoring
co pr py ot rig ec h te t d
Score each cow 2 to 4 weeks before drying off. Feel for fat in the hollows either side of the tail head and look at the covering of the transverse processes of the lumbar vertebrae and the ribs. This is also the best time to check whether she is still pregnant.
BCS 2 or less: dry off two weeks earlier, because she may be carrying twins. Move her earlier from the far off to the close up group.
BCS 2.5-3.5: excellent. Give the cow a normal dry period. The cow in the picture is at the upper limit: BCS 3.5.
BCS 4 or more: - do not dry off the cow. - dry her off and allow her to move around a lot - outside, for example. Ensure that she takes in enough energy.
See page 66 for more information on the body condition score.
On farms where the milk production of cows being dried off is dropping sufficiently because they are not being given concentrate, the drying-off group only exists on the computer.
8
Give the cows being dried off the far-off ration, because this contains minerals and makes the feed transition easier. For example, a ration that only contains straw causes a lot of stress and the risk of metabolic diseases like milk fever and acetonaemia. Check cows being dried off at least three times a day.
Dry period, special needs cows and treatments