DO Cows Tell Something?- The body language of cattle

There is an increasing need to pay attention to the environment and nature of the cows. By the time, the animal shows the symptoms of disease it usually is too late. There may be anorexia, mastitis or bad milk, before reaching these stages, the animal shows a lot of behavior changes which usually go unnoticed. How long the animal is lying, keeps standing or walking usually are such indications. Be it the milk yield,  SNF or milk Fat, we have been tracking all this since long but that is because this determines the milk check or payment we get, but we don’t relate it to animal’s health and well being. Many a times changes in these components are the first symptoms to appear. If we pay heed to nature and behavior, we can actually predict before the disease actually hits. Eating less, less activity, less lying behavior, raised temperature etc can tell the disease is about to hit.

Normally, the animals likely to get disease would take 10-15 less steps than a normal one and the animals getting Ketosis would drop the milk production by 8-10 litres.

The cows susceptible to metritis spend less time eating and also eat lower quantities. These signs can show upto two weeks prior to the disease actually hitting. Even if the animal spends 10 mins less eating, she is 1.2X more likely to get the disease. And if  she eats 1 kg Dry matter less than normal she is three times more likely to fall sick.

The animals with Dystocia exhibit a lot of changes in eating and general behavior. Before calving, there are many noticeable changes in lying and resting behavior of cows. 24 hours before calving, if a cow has more than 30 standing episodes, she is more likely to have dystocia- difficult calving.

The need of the hour is watch cows, understand them and and most important listen to them.

“ My cows can’t read the feed report”, says Rajinder a saddened dairy farmerto his friend Dharminder.    “ Dharam,” he says, “I feed them a very high priced feed but neither the milk yield goes up nor SNF and Fat. I got the feed tested from the lab, it is upto the nutritional standards, protein 20%, Fat 2.5%, Fiber 10%, and the moisture content is right too. I even showed the report my cows but they don’t increase the milk yield.”

It sounds like a joke but a dairy farmer thinks if a high priced feed doesn’t benefit, what is the use? In fact there are many more nutritional factors that play a role and on top of these, there are many non dietary factors which play a role in enhancing yield and components.

The most important thing is that the concentrate feed you buy, complements the green fodder/ forage you have, so that all the nutrient requirements can be met.

The cows don’t have a crude protein requirement. They require Amino Acids or the metabolizable protein. Which amino acids actually reach the intestines and what is the ratio of Lysine to methionine, there is a lot of science that goes into it and research is still ongoing.

Even the crude fiber test doesn’t say much about the diet digestibility but newer lab tests like NDF (Neutral Detergent Fiber), eNDF (Effective Neutral Detergent Fiber) and peNDF (physically effective Neutral Detergent Fiber) can give much more valuable information.

Don’t get disheartened that it is so detailed and tough subject. The crux is that the cows can tell you- WHAT WORKS AND WHAT DOES NOT.  This observatory experience and the science can help prepare great rations for cows. But one must not forget the non dietary factors for performance.

Research shows that animals with similar milk yield genetic potential, differ largely in yields ubder different farm management and comfort conditions even if on same diets. Only 4 factors have about 46% role play in determining of yields. These are: 1. Age at first calving, 2. Amount of feed refusals, 3. The method of delivering feed, and 4. The space available per cow. Overcrowding in the farm and feed bunk can affect yield by 32% and how much time a cow gets to rest has 31% impact.

Along with the caring of animal, how much rest they get, how much time they spend on rumination/cud chewing, total time eating can effect the components and yield. We know that the particle size  has a direct impact on rumination. If you pack in 14 cows in 10 cows space, the cows are more likely to reduce the rumination time by 2 hrs, it is like feeding 7% less peNDF. More factors bringing down the rumination time are housing the first calf heifers, locking animals in head locks for extended periods, uneven floor area or not leveled or comfortable. These factors can bring down rumination by 15-20%.

                                                                                                                                                           Amit Arora