Winter Calving & Herd Health

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Top 3 Factors to Consider to Keep Your Cows & Calves Healthy

A clean, dry, healthy calf as a result of a winter calving is a miracle to many. Add-on a cow that starts eating right away, recovers quickly, and has no lingering issues and you’ve hit a homerun. No matter who you are, there’s always extra stress involved with winter calving with concerns for both cow and calf. However, a lot of these issues are simply tackled with a good herd management plan that is developed with your animal health specialist. Talk about and consider these three factors when evaluating your winter herd health program:

1. Nutrition
The 60 days pre- and post-calving are the most critical days a cow faces each year.  At calving there are two success points - one is getting a live, healthy calf, and the other is getting the cow back up and running and ready to produce the next calf. Both success points are greatly impacted by nutrition.

• Pre-calving, the fetus is taking up nutrients from the cow’s system to grow and develop an immune system.  Therefore, it is important that cows receive adequate nutrition- a shortfall can lead to the calf having a reduced birth weight, a weak cow, and even weaker calves which will struggle to survive.
• Post-calving, the calf needs to receive an adequate quality and quantity of colostrum which is dependant upon the cow’s body condition and nutrition prior to calving.
• Post-calving, the cow’s feed intake will increase by about 10% but when the weather is cold and moist cow needs could increase by 30%. In addition, her TDN, protein, Ca, and P requirements increase which typically cannot be met by a 10% increase in forage intake.

How do we fill this nutrient gap? Feed supplements in pelleted form, self-limiting tubs, or self-limiting blocks can be used. A good supplement will help retain body condition score and thus increase reproductive efficiency.  

 
2. Vaccination
More importantly than anything, vaccination is a preventative management tool. You will see little to no results from vaccinating a herd or individual once that animal is already infected. Having said that, it is important to have a planned out vaccination protocol created with the
assistance of your veterinarian. In this protocol it is critical  to discuss with your veterinarian what vaccines will most effectively cover your herd, expense, and other factors. Be sure your protocol addresses the reasons for vaccination failure (improper storage, handling, etc) and also factors that effect response in the animal such as state of health, stress, disease, high antibodies, and parasite load.

3. Parasite Control
Lice is at its peak over the winter months, and if left untreated, will only lead to profits going down the drain. Calves free of parasites will have increased weaning weights while cows will have higher milk production, a better body condition score, and improved reproductive efficiency. A complete herd deworming program will lead to increased productivity, weaning weights, reproductive efficiency, an increased immune status (which will allow the animal to respond better to vaccines), and reduced pasture contamination.

*Always consult your veterinarian about developing protocols and treatment plans.