Enhancing Calving Ease: Two Key Changes Every Farmer Should Consider

We are nearing the end of the second week of calving, having successfully delivered 200 calves so far. As is typical, we started with a high proportion of heifers, which provides a positive beginning. The usual challenges of training heifers for milking in the parlour have followed, as expected.

Fortunately, we have managed well, thanks to the assistance of several enthusiastic veterinary students who are rotating every two weeks during calving. This arrangement allows them to acquire valuable hands-on experience.

Check out: How a £2.5m dairy unit is enhancing dry cow management

About the Author

Jonathan Hughes

Writer for Livestock Farmer Focus

Jonathan Hughes and his family manage a 650-head organic dairy herd with autumn block calving across 435 hectares (1,075 acres) in Leicestershire, supplying milk to Arla. They practice intensive grazing during the growing season, growing all their forage crops in-house.

Over the past few calving seasons, we have made adjustments to enhance the management of our transitional “close-up dry” herd, consisting of cows in the 20-30 days pre-calving group.

We continue to strip-graze on mature standing hay (high-fiber paddocks that have been left since mid-June), but we’ve implemented a new routine of bringing the cows in daily.

We apply iodine teat spray to promote udder health, followed by feeding each head 1.5 kg of protein and 2 kg of dry matter from wholecrop, complemented with various minerals.

Although this process is time-intensive, it has proven beneficial for our team as it eases calving. Moreover, it significantly enhances colostrum quality, reflecting positively on the vigor of our youngstock.

Two years ago, we encountered mastitis issues with heifers prior to calving.

Being on an organic milk contract entails rigorous audits regarding antibiotic usage, and with 10% of heifers calving with mastitis, it became essential to reassess our protocols to minimize infection risks.

After the hot weather of 2022, it was clear that groups of dry stock would congregate and contaminate small areas of the paddocks quickly, leading to a breeding ground for bacteria. Flies also acted as disease carriers, and we noted an increase in teat warts.

To address these concerns, we have implemented a policy of teat sealing all heifers 40 days prior to the calving season as a preventative measure against infections.

Additionally, applying Stockholm tar to the udder area of all dry stock and youngstock at six-week intervals has effectively reduced the incidence of teat warts.

As a result of these measures, the mastitis rate of heifers entering the herd dropped to 2% last year during the dry period, which we consider a positive outcome, especially given the wet conditions we faced during calving.