Dairy Management Professionals

Dairy Management Professionals Posted by Roger E. Weigle DVM, from decades of Veterinary dairy practice and international consulting

11/10/2018

Here is something most have not seen, a robot doing the post-milking teat disinfectant spray. I'm sure you are asking "Spray?" "Isn't dipping better? And you would be right. Dipping is ALWAYS superior to spraying, and in this case, the robot is even doing a terrible job of spraying. Missed almost all of the appropriate teat surfaces. The farm recognized that problem very quickly and had a man standing downstream of the robot, dipping the teats the right way. I don't think the dealer will take the machine back, which is too bad since it cost about 2 million rubles ($35,000 US). Spend your money wisely, and put some logic behind the purchase.

04/22/2018

A group of cows walking. We all need to learn to evaluate what we see. We see very little clinical lameness, but lots of foot score 2 animals (need a corrective trimming), and many with poor locomotion scores.

Go back and look at the video and pay attention to the number animals that are not walking with their back level with the ground. Those who walk with their back arched up show poor locomotion scores due to sore feet. They need to be seen by the foot trimmer very soon.

There are over 10 animals in this short video that demonstrate poor locomotion scores. This means no obvious clinical lameness but the animals are still sore on their feet. Go look at your cows as they walk by and evaluate your herd. Fix the problems that you see.

04/09/2018

This is a group of high producing cows in China coming back from milking. Evaluate what you see.
Body condition scores are excellent.
Cleanliness scores are very good.
Foot scores and locomotion scores are good, with no obvious lameness.
We can learn a lot about the management of a farm by just looking at the cows if we pay attention to details. Become an advocate for your cows.

04/09/2018

One of the most common problems we see in the milking parlor is inadequate stripping during the preparation phase. The cow then does not get good oxytocin release, and the unit is placed on her before she is ready to milk. It takes time before milk flow starts and that causes injury to her teat ends.
Here we see a unit on a cow that does not yet have oxytocin release. That release happens at the end of the video; she starts milking.
We want to get two full squirts of milk out of each quarter and wait 45-90 seconds before attaching the unit to avoid teat end damage.
Go watch in the parlor and see if this is happening on your farm.

Want your milking staff to do a better job and help lower your somatic cell counts? Consider giving them enough light t...
03/21/2018

Want your milking staff to do a better job and help lower your somatic cell counts? Consider giving them enough light to see what they are doing. If you do, they can actually see their mistakes and correct them. They can't remove manure from a teat if they cannot see it, and the same goes for post-dipping.

See the paper towels pre-placed for the next group? No wasted moments on this farm and no-one just standing around waiting. Also an Avida farm.

03/21/2018

I'm working in Russia for a few weeks and saw the unit attachment shown in the video on one of Avida's farms near Stary Oskol yesterday. Note how there is normal air admission before the first two cups go on, but almost none before the second two inflations are attached.
We want to limit air admission between teat cup attachment to prevent mastitis. This is perfect attachment done quickly and professionally. And the whole milking staff did it just the same. Excellent work.
Listen to the sound to get my point.

03/08/2018

I'm going to be working in Russia for the next 3 weeks, so will not have the opportunity to post. I'll start again in April.

Is everyone using heat detection aids? It is the most helpful thing you can do to quickly improve your reproductive pro...
02/27/2018

Is everyone using heat detection aids? It is the most helpful thing you can do to quickly improve your reproductive program. These are Chinese heifers in a breeding group. The animal with blue marks on her face is confirmed pregnant, but she still has a tail chalk mark as well.

Heat detection is important even in synchronized herds, and farms generally do a very poor job of it. What is YOUR farm's heat detection rate? Do you know?

The previous photo showed how confined calves ate strange things when they were salt and mineral deficient. Cows will d...
02/27/2018

The previous photo showed how confined calves ate strange things when they were salt and mineral deficient. Cows will do the same thing. The photo shows where cows that have access to an outside pen are actively eating dirt or sand, again because they are salt or mineral deficient. This can also happen when the group has rumen acidosis.

Another sign of mineral deficiency is cows licking and drinking urine from the floors.

This is VERY common, but managers seldom notice. We can do better.

This is a weaned heifer barn in Northern China, where the entire barn had insulation missing like what you see in the pi...
02/19/2018

This is a weaned heifer barn in Northern China, where the entire barn had insulation missing like what you see in the picture.

What is going on, and why are the heifers eating the foam as high as they can reach?

The animals were salt and mineral deficient. When the ration was adjusted and free choice trace mineral salt blocks were provided, the barn was reinsulated and the animals left it alone.

This is VERY common; I have seen calves in Russia that were actually licking holes in a poorly made concrete wall.

Drinking urine from the floor is another very common sign of salt and mineral deficiency.

We need to pay attention.

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