Many cattle farmers are too careless about launching cows (the so-called transition from lactation to dead wood). They mistakenly believe that with an animal that gives a lot of milk before the alleged birth, no problems will arise after them, and the milk yield will remain at a high level. However, it is not. If you do not follow a certain technology, a cow with a calf may suffer due to their health problems. The article will examine in detail how to properly run a cow.
general information
Before starting to study the main issue, let's first understand the general concepts. A pregnant cow is a calf at the stage of its life between cover and calving. At this time, the animal needs special care and a special diet, since carrying a calf and giving birth takes a lot of energy. This period in animal husbandry is also called dead wood. How to determine its beginning? When to send a chick to start? What kind of food and care does an animal need? You will find the answers to all these and many other questions below.
What are the consequences of a malfunction
As mentioned earlier, non-compliance with calving preparation technology can lead to many problems. So, improper start-up of a cow can cause:
- The appearance of a weakened or underdeveloped calf.
- Complicated childbirth, as a result of which the heifer or calf may die.
- The development of various infectious diseases.
- Breast inflammation.
To prevent all this from happening, every novice farmer should have a detailed understanding of how to properly run a cow. There are two main technologies that will be described in detail below.
The main symptoms of calving
A pregnant cow is a rather capricious animal that requires constant attention and increased care. You can independently determine the approach of the upcoming birth by physical and behavioral changes. In about a month, the udder begins to noticeably increase in size in heifers. It may also occasionally show swelling. If it becomes too large, it will be difficult for the animal to stand on its feet and move around. Therefore, the owner must be very careful to take the necessary measures in a timely manner.
In about 10-14 days, the genital organs swell in a pregnant heifer, and transparent mucus is secreted from them in the morning. When only a few hours remain before delivery, the cow becomes very restless. She constantly steps over from one foot to the other, lifts her tail, and viscous muddy mucus flows from her genitals. If the animal begins to strain, then this is a sure sign of the beginning of labor. If you know how to properly run a cow before calving, and you do everything in accordance with the technology, then the birth will be normal and without any complications.
Launch dates
One of the key factors in preparing cattle is time. The vast majority of breeds need to start running no later than 45-60 days before calving. Exceptions are heifers and highly dairy cows. But here it is important to understand that it is impossible to calculate the most optimal period accurate to the week. You should also take into account the individual characteristics of the body of each animal.
Experienced farmers recommend that beginners have a calving calendar. The date of insemination is entered in it, an approximate pregnancy schedule is calculated, the duration of which is on average 285 days. With this information at your disposal, you can calculate when to start training. How to run a cow? There are two main ways - instant and traditional. Each of them has certain features that you need to have an idea about.
Preparing for calving
Approximately 1.5-2 months before the expected birth, milking of the cow is completely stopped. This is an important requirement that is mandatory even if the heifer gives a large amount of milk. Such measures are necessary so that the animal can take a break from lactation and accumulate in its body a supply of vitamins, minerals and nutrients. Thanks to this, the fetus will be able to grow stronger in the womb, be born healthy and strong.
Preparation also requires certain changes to your daily diet. Concentrated and succulent feeds are gradually withdrawn from it. Milking is first performed twice a day instead of three, and then completely carried out once a day in the morning. If the pregnancy has fallen during the summer, then reduce the duration of free-walking so that the cow does not consume too much fresh grass and branches of young trees on the pasture.
As for feeding as a whole, it should be balanced and useful so that the heifer receives energy, but does not get too fat. Livestock experts advise giving more quality haylage, silage, as well as fresh fruits, vegetables and root crops. It is also necessary to add chalk and salt to food, and monitor the water balance. Thus, the preparation of the cow for calving is carried out. If you do everything right, then giving birth to a heifer will be easy. Then it will be possible to start launching the animal. How to do this, read on.
Instant start
This technology is one of the most common in the world, used in large industrial livestock farms. Its advantage is a more gentle transfer of the cow to a new diet, so that even highly milky breeds that produce up to 20 liters of milk daily can stop lactation in just 7-10 days. In addition, this method minimizes the development of various serious health problems and many diseases. A key factor in instant technology is the right diet for dry cows. It is adjusted according to the following scheme:
- For 50 days, juicy feeds are completely excluded from the diet and the number of concentrates is reduced, and instead they begin to produce more hay and straw.
- For 40 days, milk is taken for analysis and based on the results obtained, appropriate corrections are introduced into the nutrition program.
- If any pathologies are detected, a course of antibiotics is prescribed to the animal.
- Throughout the entire start-up time, salt is necessarily added to the feed to maintain optimal water balance in the body of the heifer.
- Every day, the cow needs a plentiful amount of fresh drink, so the water should be changed regularly.
Here is such a technology of simultaneous launch. As practice has shown, it is highly effective, for which many farmers prefer to use it.
Traditional launch
This technology is suitable for people involved in cattle breeding on a small scale. The launch lasts from the cessation of milking to the start of feeding the calf. If a cow has never given birth and belongs to highly dairy breeds, then milking must be stopped 2.5 months before the expected calving.
In all other cases, you must adhere to the following scheme, left for a week:
- The first day - 2 milking.
- The second and third - one in the morning.
- Fourth and fifth - one in the evening.
- Sixth - one in the morning.
- The seventh is alone in the evening.
This technology also assumes compliance with certain features of feeding cows at startup. Pregnant heifers stop giving juicy feed, instead of which hay, straw and silage are introduced into the diet. The number of concentrates is reduced to 1 kilogram per day. So that the udder does not swell much or swell, they reduce the intensity of drinking. In order to accelerate the adaptation of an animal to a new diet, it is transferred for maintenance to a new room and the meal schedule is changed. According to experts, with all the recommendations to launch this technology, it takes about 7 days.
A few words about antibiotics
If in the process of milk research a cow is found to have any infectious diseases or an inflammatory process, the animal needs a course of drug therapy based on the use of prolonged antibiotics. The most effective is the use of Primalact. When starting a cow, this medicine quickly kills pathogenic microflora with minimal damage to the health of the calf and heifer.
The drug is prescribed for the following ailments:
- Chronic inflammation of the inner layer of the uterus.
- Various forms of mastitis.
- The inflammatory process with an accumulation of purulent formations.
It is worth noting that it is best to contact an experienced veterinarian for any diseases in cattle, since only he will be able to calculate the appropriate dosage and duration of therapy.
The content of heifers during pregnancy
Approximately 2-3 months before calving, it is recommended that the cow be moved to a separate room from the rest of the livestock in order to ensure that it is at rest. The floor in the stable is covered with straw, which changes regularly. Salt stone is placed in one corner, and a drinking bowl is set in another. The room should be well insulated and protected from drafts. It also regularly carries out sanitary cleaning and airing. Good conditions of detention is no less important aspect than the preparation and proper launch of the heifer before childbirth, so in no case should you leave it unattended.
Conclusion
If you want to always receive a large amount of milk from your cow, then she needs to ensure proper care and properly prepare for the cessation of lactation. In this article, we examined the two most effective technologies that will allow you to run a cow in such a way as to maintain high milk yield. Stick to them, and you will certainly succeed.