Before calving, the cow requires the most careful care. Such an animal needs to provide good living conditions and develop the right diet for it. In addition, farms perform a procedure such as starting a cow before calving. Of course, such an operation also needs to be done correctly.
What is a launch and why is it needed
They keep cattle on farms, of course, primarily for milk. However, before the calf is born, the cow should rest a bit from milking. In this case, it will subsequently bring healthy offspring, and then it will produce high-fat milk in large quantities. The period in which the cow does not milk before calving, and called the launch.
The timing
Usually, the procedure for starting cows is started 2-2.5 months before birth. The exception in this case is only highly productive animals, giving more than 15 liters of milk per day, as well as cows who became pregnant for the first time. Running before the calving of cows of these groups is a more complicated and lengthy procedure. Therefore, they begin it for such animals earlier - about 3 months before calving.
Basic Rules
It is impossible to violate the technology for launching cows. This is fraught with the development of mastitis and other diseases of the udder in cows. First of all, at the beginning of the launch, the animal is transferred to a special diet. Cows exclude juicy food and some concentrates from the menu. Such products are replaced with roughage, that is, with hay. Concentrates to the animal give no more than 1 kg per day.
In summer, when starting, they reduce the time of grazing. After all, grass can also be classified as succulent feed. Cows in the pasture are expelled during this period, but gradually reduce the time spent in the meadow to 4-5 hours.
As soon as the burenka is transferred to dry food, they begin to gradually reduce the number of milking. This leads to burnout of milk in the animal. Within 1-2 weeks it becomes less and less. As a result, milking ceases altogether.
Rules for walking pregnant cows
The time spent by a pregnant cow in the pasture is thus reduced. However, it is believed that short walks in the meadow for such cows can be very useful. It is recommended to drive pregnant animals from time to time to the street not only in summer but also in winter. In the period from October to April, a burenka before calving should spend in the fresh air at least half an hour a day. To do this, they will organize a walk near the barn. Its area should be such that for each burenka accounted for at least 8-9 m 2 .
It is not recommended to release pregnant cows with non-pregnant women in one walking. This can lead to injury and abortion. Also, experts do not recommend releasing pregnant cows in a paddock during ice. If the pregnant cows slip, it can also lead to a miscarriage. Very carefully, of course, you should walk the cows in the last months of bearing the fetus. Such animals on the street need to be closely monitored.
special instructions
Cows are watered during startup most often in normal mode. But sometimes it happens that even after changing the diet, the animal produces as much milk as before. In this case, the number of cows is reduced. Water is given to such an animal three times a day.
Of course, you need to drink a pregnant cow correctly. Water is given to pregnant cows exclusively warm. Using too cold or hot can cause a miscarriage.
During the start-up of a cow before calving, among other things, it is necessary to monitor the state of its udder. If it hardens, you should immediately contact your veterinarian. Otherwise, the cow may develop mastitis. If this happens, the start should be stopped until the animal has fully recovered.
It is possible to prevent the development of mastitis in a cow, among other things, by periodically massaging its udder. It is necessary to perform this procedure from time to time before starting.
How long can it last
The number of milking before calving a cow is usually reduced from two per day to one. In cows with medium milk yields, the start-up procedure most often lasts no more than 5 days. However, they stop milking such animals usually only on the 7th day. In private households, in most cases, they use the following scheme for launching cows before calving:
On the seventh day, the animal is milked for the last time in the morning. How much a start-up cow should be in the private sector - the answer to this question depends primarily on its individual productivity in terms of milk production. They stop milking a pregnant burenka when its udder decreases in size, and the amount of milk in it decreases to one glass. By this time, the risk of developing mastitis will be reduced to zero.
How to milk high dairy cows
In such animals, the launch procedure usually lasts longer. Most often, milk in highly dairy cows disappears only after 2 or even 2.5 weeks. How many times to milk a highly productive cow or a first-calf during a run? In such animals, milk will, of course, last longer. Therefore, two-time milking after changing the diet in this case is usually extended for 4-5 or more days. Then the cow can be transferred to the same schedule as for medium-dairy individuals. Stop milking such animals also only after reducing the udder and reducing the amount of milk to a glass.
How to determine a cow’s pregnancy
It is believed that the launch of cows of any breed should begin no earlier than 3 months before calving and no later than 45 days before. But of course, you need to start this procedure only if the animal is really pregnant.
Almost all modern dairy breeds reach sexual maturity at about the age of 1.5 years. At this time, cows are usually driven with bulls. A pregnant cow can be considered if it shows no signs of hunting 3-6 weeks after covering.
In the household, the presence of pregnancy in a burenka can be determined by the following signs:
cautious behavior and a quieter lifestyle while maintaining appetite;
the presence of vaginal discharge in the first couple of months;
changing the texture of the wool to a more smooth and shiny.
A good answer to the question of how to determine a cow’s pregnancy is, of course, palpation. The procedure is complicated, but even in the private sector it is quite feasible. Palpation is usually performed as follows:
a pair of assistants should hold the cow by the horns and legs;
the inspector lathers the hand and inserts it into the rectum of the animal;
Having found the cervix, the examiner controls its position.
In a non-pregnant cow, the uterus will be located in the pelvic area. In a pregnant animal within 2 months, one horn increases in size and fluctuates. Of course, in a pregnant cow, the uterus itself will be quite large.
Rules for palpation
It is best to carry out such a procedure in the morning - before the first feeding. At this time, the cow’s stomach is empty. Accordingly, palpation in the morning is much easier to do.
In order for the cow to experience less discomfort, before performing diagnostics using this method, the fingers can be additionally greased with liquid paraffin. In any case, palpation should be done as carefully as possible. The walls of the rectum in cattle are quite thin. And with any inaccurate movement, they can be easily damaged.
You can’t move your hand during palpation at the time of reduction of the intestinal wall. In order to conduct a study on the position of the uterus, you need to wait until they completely relax.
Feeding just before giving birth
A week before calving, concentrates are completely excluded from the diet of well-fed cows. Thinner animals are given in an amount of not more than 900 g per day. What is the best way to feed cows during this period? The answer to this question, of course, is of interest to many farmers. During this period, in order for the calf to receive all the vitamins, microelements and nutrients necessary for his body, it is necessary to include legume and cereal rich in fiber and useful components in his mother’s menu. Cows should be given such feed at this time ad libitum.
Instant start
In large farms, paying attention to every pregnant Burenka before giving birth is, of course, difficult. Therefore, at such farms, the simultaneous launch of cows before calving is usually used with the use of special preparations. In this case:
the diet of the cow is changed approximately 50 days before calving;
after 10 days, milk is taken from each nipple for analysis to identify pathologies.
On the day of launch, before the calving, the cow is thoroughly issued and wiped dry, and its udder is also disinfected. Then, with the help of a syringe dispenser, an anti-mastitis drug is injected into the animal’s mammary gland through the nipple. This can be, for example, Orbenin or Nafpenzal DC. Thus, the drug is pumped every quarter of the udder. After that, milking the cows is stopped and the animal is transferred to dead wood. In this case, concentrates and silage in an amount of up to 2 kg per day are included in the diet.
Injections of anti-mastitis drugs are usually given to the animal at launch, usually only if it is healthy and when milk production is reduced to 10 liters per day. On the first day after using the drug, the udder of the cow may swell. But this phenomenon is temporary and does not lead to any negative effects.
The main advantage of the instant method is the elimination of the probability of untimely start of the cow. In addition, those animals that have been given a drug intended for this purpose are much less likely to suffer from mastitis in the future.
Important
Most drugs designed to run cows should not be used during lactation to prevent mastitis. After using such products, milk should not be eaten for 1.5 months or more.
What is the danger of an untimely launch
The individual characteristics of some cows are such that it is very difficult to run them before calving. When transferred to dry food, for example, a stomach stoppage may occur, which often even leads to the death of the animal. Often, even with the exclusion of succulent feed from the diet, the cow continues to produce large quantities of milk. In such cases, some farmstead owners refuse to run the animal. Of course, often enough this does not lead to any negative consequences. However, letting the cow give birth without launch is still quite dangerous.
It is necessary to try to prepare even a problem animal for childbirth. Such a cow should be carefully transferred to dry feeds, gradually reducing the number of succulents in the diet. To stop lactation in this case, as already mentioned, you can use special drugs.
An improperly run cow before calving or ignoring this procedure can lead to such unpleasant consequences as:
The amount of milk in the cow after calving will decrease if it was not properly started, it can be up to 40%.
Early launch
Sometimes it happens that the lactation period of a cow, on the contrary, ends too early - 3-3.5 months before calving. Early launch is usually not harmful for the cows themselves and their fetus. But the owners of the compound in this case, of course, receive quite a lot of milk.
Why does the cow go off to start early? In most cases, an early cessation of lactation does not mean that the animal has any pathologies. It usually happens so simply because of the individual characteristics of the organism of this particular burenka. To prolong the lactation period of such an animal for about a month, experienced farmers advise giving the cow prone to early start up more succulent feed. This can be, for example, silage, beets, fruits, carrots, etc.
Sample menu and care
So, we found out how to properly run a cow on the farm. Before calving, cows are kept on farms mainly on roughage. In the household, the menu of the cow during this period, for example, includes:
silage and cereal hay - 60%;
concentrated feed (grain, bran, compound feed) - 24%;
other types of roughage (ordinary hay) - 16%.
Feed animals before calving usually 3 times a day. Also, when performing the launch procedure, the cow must be offered 30-50 g of chalk and salt per day. Of course, you need to give a pregnant Burenka exclusively high-quality food without mold and a bad smell. Otherwise, the cow may have a miscarriage.
There are negligent owners who believe that since the burenka does not give milk at launch, it is not necessary to feed it well. This approach is fundamentally wrong. Poor feeding of the animal during the launch period can lead to, for example, negative consequences such as:
- difficult calving;
- diseases of the udder and reproductive organs;
- delay of the afterbirth, etc.
Among other things, the cow before birth, of course, also needs to provide decent living conditions. Burenka should be kept in a warm, bright, well-ventilated barn.
What to do after calving
Pregnancy in cows can last about 280-310 days. Thus, the answer to the question of when to stop milking a cow before calving is about 7.5 months. Of course, Burenka needs good care not only before calving, but also after it. In any case, the usual diet for the animal should be returned gradually.
30-40 minutes after the calf is born in the cow, it needs to be drunk with a sufficiently large amount of water. Then, fresh clean, high-quality hay should be put in the trough to the burenka. In the summer, it is allowed to give freshly cows and green grass.
Concentrated feed is usually introduced into the animal’s diet one day after delivery. In most cases, at this time the cows are given the simplest not too high-calorie chatter from bran with water. On the third day, such food is allowed to be replaced with a chatter of oats in an amount of 1.5 kg. This kind of food will be especially beneficial for cow constipation after giving birth.
Juicy foods, as well as concentrated ones, are introduced gradually into the diet of the animal after calving. Sharply a large amount of such food can not be given to cows. Otherwise, they may not only have an udder upset. Too large a percentage of succulent feed in the diet after calving often, unfortunately, causes swelling of the udder.