Calves Get Stressed Too: What Dairy Farmers Need to Know
Understanding stressors in calves is key for dairy farmers to keep their calves healthy and growing strong.
Animal Welfare
Articles
Balancing Ventilation Costs and Milk Production Losses on Wisconsin Dairy Farms
Effective ventilation management reduces the impacts of heat stress on milk production.
Lameness Risk Landscape
Not only does lameness affect a cow’s health and well-being, but it’s also costly to the farm’s bottom line. Lameness cases in the dairy herd impact reproduction, milk production, herd health, and longevity.
Cows Don’t Like Surprise Parties
While a surprise party might be fun for humans, unpredictability can get in the way of milk letdown and overall milking performance.
🎧 LISTEN: Engaging Positive Animal Behavior
[Listen to this 3-minute podcast] Research has shown cows love using brushes. A study found that lactating cows were willing to push heavy gates to get access to an automatic rotating brush, indicating that having a brush was important to them.
Healthy Cows: Management Tips for Transition Times
Fresh cow diseases such as ketosis, milk fever, displaced abomasum, retained placenta, metritis, and mastitis have a huge impact on the overall health of an animal. In addition to the health of the animal there are other factors including lost milk production, longer days to cycle and get pregnant, plus the cost to treat these fresh cow diseases.
Handling down cows
Dealing with a down cow can be frustrating, however with proper procedural practices in place, you will equip your team with the attitude and skillset to handle the situation.
Are my dairy cattle fit for transport?
This infographic will help you better understand if your dairy cattle are fit for transport.
Crowd gates done right: Best practices for cow comfort and welfare
Proper crowd gate functioning benefits both cows and dairy farm workers. For farm managers, effective staff training, regular crowd gate maintenance, and proper management are essential for ensuring successful crowd gate operation. While crowd gates help keep cows near the parlor entrance, it is crucial to avoid misusing them to promote positive animal welfare.
Top strategies to streamline your milking parlor
Ensuring a comfortable and safe parlor environment for both cows and workers, while efficiently using all available resources—including time—is crucial for the dairy business’ profitability. Milking time on a dairy farm is a balancing act between maintaining cleanliness and calmness while moving quickly enough to finish on time and get the cows back to their pens, where they can eat, drink, rest, and produce milk.
Keep Cattle Cool and Comfortable in Summer
The latest long-range forecasts from the National Weather Service show that Wisconsin has a 40% to 50% chance of a hotter-than-normal summer. Long periods of heat stress are more likely to have lasting effects on cattle, including early embryonic loss in heifers and cows, poor semen quality in bulls, and reduced gains in feeder cattle.
Strengthening biosecurity practices on dairy farms
The careful implementation of biosecurity practices is key to protect both people and animals, as well as to ensure a viable and safe food supply for consumers.
