Hot Topic in Cold Winter

Ketosis- is a very significant disease in transition cows and is rather a gateway for many other diseases that is why early detection, treatment as well as prevention are very important. There should be herd monitoring strategies in place to implement this plan. There are tools available which should be made use of which shall be discussed in detail later in this write up.

A Hidden Disease  Ketosis goes highly undetected that makes it a very dangerous disease. I wrote a small write up on Ketosis on my facebook group a couple of years back and I had a comment from one renowned Indian dairy Scientist," Is this disease even prevalent in India?" That was a shocker!! What can you expect from farmers and inexperienced Para Vets and young Vets. One detected case of Clinical Ketosis is a tip of Iceberg of undiagnosed sub clinical cases.

Some tech details about Ketosis:

• Ketosis is a metabolic disorder that occurs in dairy cattle when energy demands (e.g. high milk production) exceed energy intake and result in a negative energy balance. Ketosis is essentially a transition phase disease and if animals can be manged well in this phase, the outcomes can be better.
• For milk production large amounts of body fat are mobilized as an energy source faster by a cow than her liver can properly metabolize it. If this situation occurs, ketone production exceeds ketone utilization by the cow, and ketosis happens.
• Ketone bodies are produced from the incomplete utilization of fat as an energy source. Acetoacetic acid, acetone, and beta–hydroxybutyric acid are the ketone bodies produced in the cow during this process.
• Ketone precursors may also exist in high levels in legume and grass silages containing high levels of butyric acid. They can increase the risk of ketosis by increasing the supply of ketone precursors to cattle.

Why is Ketosis so Hot: 

• Ketotic cows are at upto 8x risk for displaced abomasum(DA).
• Upto 2x risk of Retained Fetal membranes.
• Upto 3x risk of Metritis.
• Upto 2x culling.
• Upto 6X cystic Ovaries.
• Lower reproductive performances
• Lower immune function overall!
• Upto 350 Litres/770 pounds less milk in lactation.

Monitoring for Ketosis: For indvidual cows, keep an eye on:

• Higher BCS,
• Rapid BCS reduction in late and close up Dry period.
• Longer dry periods
• Twin pregnancies
• Milk fat Milk protein ratios of more than 1.5 in previous lactation
• Late freshened heifers

Herd level, monitor all Transition cows for BHBAs and Ketone bodies, some of your options are:

• Lab BHBA monitoring
• Cow side BHBA ketometer test- good effective and cost effective strategy
• Milk Ketone tests- Cow side
• Urine Ketones- Is not very reliable with many false postive but all positives can be further evaluated with above methods.

Whatever difficulties are there to monitor but if this can be made a part of fresh and transition cow program, there are going to be guaranteed gains and lower losses. Shall be discussing the prevention and supportive treatment options in follow up write up.

Silage- Evaluating quality for your Dairy

Ensiling forages is a great way to have a forage ration year round. Not only that, you can have a consistent quality for one silo or pit and that becomes really easy to balance the complimenting ration to a consistent forage. Corn silage is one of the most prevalent silage used.
But it is very important to check the quality of silage before feeding that to your cows. These are the parameters you need to evaluate silage for:

DRY MATTER- This is a must. A good quality corn silage shall be between 30-40 % dry matter, depending upon how wet or dry the crop was harvested. Anything outside that range may not be fit or feeding, may not have fermented right in the silo. Apart from that it is recommended to test the silage for dry matter every 7-10 days. The diet or concentrate might have to be changed depending upon that. The standard method is oven drying but it can be checked on farm in a microwave and that is fairly valid.

PHYSICAL FORM- That includes the chop length and kernel processing. PENN STATE SHAKER BOX is the best tool for it. You can use standard size sieve boxes if it is not available in your country. This will give you a fair idea of physically effective fiber in diet which is very important for cattle.
Apart from that bucket test to see Kernel processing is a very good tool to determine Kernel processing which may impact available starch to a large extent. If you cows are excreting whole kernels in Dung that is energy down the drain.

FERMENTATION ANALYSIS- Quality of fermentation can be assessed by the pH first of all. A pH in range of 4 is good. Anything above 4.5 is a not well fermented silage and your herd may have performance and health issues. If you can get the organic acids analysis done, Lactic Acid- 5-10%, Butyric Acid should be not more than 0.5%, otherwise there is Clostridial fermentation and feeding such silage is not recommended. You may have serious fresh cow issues. Lactic acid should be more than 70 percent of all acids, and the lactic-to-acetic ratio should be more than 3. If there is more than 3% ethanol, you might have aerobic stability issues on storage.

Apart from that you can get NDF, ADF and lignin tested for your nutritionist to have an idea of the digestibility.
For details on microwave testing for DM, Penn state shaker box and Bucket method testing, You can contact me.

Additives and Supplements- Investment or Expense

Additives and Supplements- Investment or Expense

If the milk prices are average/low and the feed prices are high, the first thing to go out of Rations are the additives or the supplements. I have long been an advocate of additives in Ration if can be taken out, should not have been added in the first place. Of course, the cost of milk production is important but animal health and longevity must not be compromised. One thing is to be remembered always, don't ever ever try to lose milk or cut down the production, two reasons, whatever you are getting is after the animal's body maintenance expenses and the more you get, the cheaper it is. Second, Lost milk never gets back. You might have to wait for the next lactation and who knows even you attain the peak there or not.

 So here is a list of additives that are highly recommended in Rations and then there are which could be used as well. But first of all it is important to have the cows grouped based upon stage and level of production to decide who gets what.

1. Far Off dry cows: Monensin, Organic Trace Minerals, Vitamins, Silage inoculants, Anionic Products(Can be, depends on diet and ongoing research)
2. Close up Dry cows: Monensin, Organic Trace Minerals, Vitamins A, D3 and E, Silage inoculants, Can be used- Some B Vitamins(folic and B12), Choline, Anionic products depending upon diet DCAD.
3. Fresh Cows: Rumen Buffers, Monensin, Yeast products, Organic Trace Minerals, Vitamins, Rumen protected Niacin, Choline, biotin, Silage inoculants. Can be used- Glucogenic precursors like Calcium Propionate, Propylene Glycol etc.
4. High Producers/Mid lactation: Rumen Buffers, Monensin, Yeast products, Organic Trace Minerals, Vitamins and Silage inoculants
5. Late Lactation/Low Producers: Monensin and silage inoculants

For selecting a product, no 1 priority should be the research and proven efficacy of the product.

Second you should know your return on Investment. Just spending can be an expense not an investment.

The most mportant thing while using the additives or supplemets is using the right doses. Underdosing may save you money on paper but shall be costing you money in reality. For example an underdose of Rumen buffer like Sodium bicarbonate is of no use as lower doses than 0.75%  of total diet dry matter shall not have a beneficial effect at all.

There are many more products available in the market, but the research and return on investment should be your criteria for selecting those.

The Start that sets the pace:

For years, farmers have been advised to feed the right quality colostrum with in time. There has been much research about the quality of colostrum and ways to determine it, early feeding and feeding the right quantities. All this progress has helped much in calf nutrition and a healthy start. Most of the focus has been on Immunoglobulins particularly IGg, which have been the bench mark of the colostrum quality measurement. No denying the fact that IGg is a very important part of early calf nutritional needs and is very vital for immunity development. This has lead to development of colostrum supplements and replacers in many world markets which mainly have IGgs and not other colostrum constituents most of the time. This has been the holy text till date for colostrum quality so far.

But recent work from Dr. Mike Van Amburgh and colleagues has been eye opening. Their recent presentations and publication on the topic have been really amazing. Following are some details and the recommendations from Dr. Van Amburgh for colostrum feeding.

Dr. Van Amburgh recently shared his thoughts with attendees at the 2016 Dairy Calf and Heifer Association annual conference, underscoring the value of colostrum to calves. “While a fetus is developing in-utero, the dam controls its environment entirely,” he said. “After her calf is born, she continues to share maternal influence throughout the first weeks of life via milk-borne factors. The benefits of mom’s milk, in promoting long-term health and optimal physiological development, do not end with the first feeding of colostrum.” "Colostrum contains many more substances beneficial to newborn calves, including steroids, hormones and growth factors such as relaxin, prolactin, insulin, IGF-1, IGF-2, and leptin,” said Dr. Van Amburgh. “Colostrum, even in its transition state at the second, third and fourth milking, also is richer in nutrients than standard cow’s milk.”
Dr. Van Amburgh presented results from a study that showed glucose absorption was markedly improved in calves fed colostrum for the first four days of life, compared to those fed milk replacer. He said enhanced glucose absorption appears to favor anabolic processes and improves growth and energy storage. He noted that, in fact, Olympic athletes consume colostrum as a legal means of developing muscle mass.

To capture the benefits of colostrum beyond the first feeding, Dr. Van Amburgh advised the following colostrum delivery regimen for the first four days of life:

(1) First-milking colostrum within 6 hours of birth. Administer 4 quarts in this feeding for large breeds, 3 quarts for smaller calves.

(2) An additional 2 quarts of first-milking colostrum at 12 hours of life.

(3) At least 4 quarts of second-milking colostrum on Day 2 of life (over at least two feeding periods).

(4) At least 4 quarts of third-milking colostrum on Day 3.

(5) At least 4 quarts of fourth-milking colostrum on Day 4.

“Colostrum is a readily available resource that represents our best chance to program calves for a lifetime of health and productivity,” said Dr. Mike Van Amburgh. “There is significant value in taking the extra measures to deliver it to newborns beyond their first day of life.”

Facility Needs of the Calving Cows

To start with, transition period is one of the biggest challenge for every cow each lactation. She is going through so many physiological changes and challenges. Not only that, a successful transition period is the foundation of the coming lactation. There has been great research published as well as ongoing on the subject.
The purpose of this note is to focus on facilities for calving to make calving minimally stressful. My suggestions are not going to be architectural or design based but general considering the animal needs and their impact on calving and animal health. Depending upon the design of your existing facilities, you can or cannot make any changes to present facilities.

• Behavior of the cows nearing calving:   I have had experience of raising my cows on free housing facilities. The are not confined to cubicles or tie stalls. One thing which I noticed and found very interesting that the cows that were nearing calving, on the day, they start to isolate themselves. They look for places where they can have some privacy away from their herdmates. If there is a tree or shed in the facility, they try to be around that area or even hide close to it. So regardless of your type of facilities, you can have an adjoining area to close up group with deep straw, saw dust or sand or combination bedding. You will see cows nearing calving moving towards the designated area.
• Space: It has been seen that activity goes very high when cows are near calving. The would be lying then standing then lying etc. again and again. There is a necessity of approx 200 sq ft per cow depending upon the size and stature of the cow. So space should be designed considering these dimensions.
• Monitoring: Cows nearing calving need to be monitored regularly for instances like calving difficulty etc. But cows like to be in seclusion so area should be such where there is not much noise. I highly recommend use of cameras. I could save couple of my cows just because of cameras, one incidence where one cow pushed another in a raised feed bunk and nobody was around. the supervisor saw it and the cow could be saved. This is one of the cost effective investment fr your farm. After every calving, are should be sanitized and bedding changed.

The importance of Amino Acids Balancing in Dairy Cattle Rations

I shifted to USA from India about 9 months back. Having got my work authorization, I started searching for the Dairy farm related opportunities. I contacted all the contacts I had in US. One of my contacts responded. He though is a retired vet and ex University official. He had a roaring veterinary practice, one of the largest, I know. He asked me to formulate a ration for a particular group. I formulated a ration and emailed him all the detailed reports with absorb-able minerals, micro nutrients supplies as well as Duodenal amino acid supplies. He called me back and said that he was very happy with the formulation and he was testing my skills before recommending me to anyone. I thank him for this, But then he mentioned that amino acids balancing was not required and it was more of a marketing gimmick and he in his 45 year practice did not see any virtues.

 This reminded me of the words from Dr. Charles Schwab- the famous amino acids ambassador. His work on role of amino acids balancing in Dairy Cattle is a milestone. He told me that people earlier used to say that amino acid balancing was for pigs and poultry and cattle actually did not care or need.

I have always been a keen student of amino acids balancing in cattle rations and its benefits. So the words from that Sr, Vet, kind of broke my heart. The sole motive of this write up is that amino acids balancing for Dairy cattle does matter, not only it improves production and components but reduces protein wastage and N impacts on environment too.Researchers at the University of Illinois found that transition cows supplemented with methionine consumed more dry matter and produced more milk and milk components. In addition to greater milk yield, those cows also had reduced infl ammation, lower oxidative stress, and improved liver function all according to gene expression and blood metabolite measurements. Based on these results it appears that the immune system of cows was dysfunctional when fed methionine-defi cient diets, causing depressed appetites. Whereas, immune function improved in transition cows supplemented with methionine resulting in greater appetite, increased dry matter intake, and a concomitant increase in milk yield. Cows supplemented with methionine also had fewer incidences of ketosis. All of these factors indicate that cows are healthier when fed diets that supply the required amount of key essential amino acids.

It can be difficult to quantify the cost of immune dysfunction, increased oxidative stress, or reduced liver function. But amino acid balancing is paying for itself and works as an added bonus beyond healthier cows . Visible cost advantages can be made by replacing more expensive protein feeds with less expensive forages or fermentable carbohydrates since diets are now properly balanced for amino acids.

One big challenge for Dairy Farming in India

I have watched and worked in Indian Dairy farming very closely. I used to house stray cows and work with them to make them productive and reproductively efficient, these two major things for which the dairy farmers would let their cows loose and become stray. Why, because it is not righteous to slaughter cows in India. Even the government has banned it. 
What these stray cattle are subjected to- hunger, starvation, extreme weather and beatings. But they are SACRED!! This is politics in the name of cow and nobody wants to help the poor animal but gain the political mileage by showing themselves as devotees and true HINDUs. 'Why can't we save cow for the sake of our religion?' Really? Are we really saving them? How? By letting them stray on the roads, eat plastic and die with diseases that we don't even care to address.
they are abandoned to eat garbage and die. This was a suggestion given by N.S. Ramaswamy, founder-director of IIM Bangalore and a notable animal rights activist, that there should be proper slaughterhouses near the farm so that such commercially nonviable cattle can be humanely culled nearby, without them having to be transported to distant places in horrendous conditions or be left astray. But who wants to listen to such intellectual people when we have the 'Moral Hindutva Brigade' with us? It's not about tongue/taste friends, it's all about that mentality to dominate, force, and bully. To bring anyone and everyone under our control leaving no room for discussion. There was a time in this very India when, without eating beef, no Brahmin could remain a Brahmin; you read in the Vedas how, when a Sannyasin, a king, or a great man came into a house, the best bullock was killed; how in time it was found that as we were an agricultural race, killing the best bulls meant annihilation of the race. Therefore the practice was stopped, and a VOICE was raised against the killing of cows.
You will be astonished if I tell you that, ACCORDING to the old ceremonials, he is not a good Hindu who does not eat beef. On certain occasions he must sacrifice a bull and eat it. That is disgusting now.
I am highly impressed and influenced by work of Dr. Temple Grandin, professor of animal science at Colorado State University.
“I think we can eat meat ethically,” she says, “but we’ve got to give animals a good life.”Dr. Grandin has spent 30 years doing that by looking at the beef industry through the eyes of a cow. She lays down in muddy corrals, crawls through metal chutes, and even stands in the stun boxes where factory workers deliver their fatal blows.She’s found a bunch of small ways that add up to a big difference in how humanely the beef industry treats cattle. Her discoveries include two inventions used in most slaughterhouses today: curved loading chutes and the center-track restrainer system.

But all said and done, until we separate politics from profession, Dairy farming has a big negative to become a profitable profession in India.