Condition scoring
Fat cow
(1)
Thin cow
(2)
Fat cow
(3)
Thin cow
(4)
Good cow
(5)
These photos were taken in mid-April, four to six weeks before dry-off, three months before planned start of calving. The cows numbered one and two are the fattest and the thinnest in the herd respectively - and have been all season. Number two had chronic scours. Number one hasn't told me what's wrong with her - so we'll just call it grass addiction (and molasses, she loves molasses).
Number three is dry - slipped her calf last June, been a low producer all year, dried herself off in March and started piling the weight on.
Have a go at condition scoring. Remember, the scale is from 1 to 10 with less than 2 being emaciated, over 7 obese and ideal for most of the year being 4.5 - 5.
(this is different from the British scale which runs from 1 - 5, but I think it's the same scale that is used in the US)
http://www.dexcel.co.nz/data/usr/ACF6AB.pdf (Condition scoring made easy sample - unfortunately both text and pictures are very blurred)
http://www.lifestyleblock.co.nz/articles/cattle/25_conditionscoring_cows.htm
Dr Clive Dalton (after listing the problems caused if a cow is too thin or too fat) recommends starting at five and working down, saying that a cow who is a five or more will not be a problem.
For the most part, under New Zealand conditions he's right - but that's because New Zealand dairy cows are rarely obese.
Conditions scores much greater than a six at calving could lead to significant problems with pushing that calf out, metabolic issues and ketosis after calving. They're also at higher risk for foot trouble. Very fat cows are more often seen with intensive feeding, housing and traditional Friesian (not Holstein) genetics. The Friesian was originally a dual purpose dairy and meat breed, as many of the red breeds still are, and they will fatten much more easily than Jersey or Holstein cattle (in NZ, the extreme dairy-type Holstein-Friesian is more likely to be found in overseas-sourced genetics).
http://www.lifestyleblock.co.nz/articles/cattle/26_conditionscoring_cows_checklist.htm
*note: at the time these photos were taken the herd averaged about 4.5
I've backdated images of the cull cows to the October 06 archives - as a group, they're a little lighter than the main herd. All are either empty or late calvers.
posted by nellta holdings @ 3:52 AM
2 Comments:
This article contains about 1/10th of the info I was looking for. Ayrshire breed is #3 milk cow in numbers (so sez the NZ Ayshire site). What are #1 and #2? Can someone fill me in on avg rations/day/cow? Prices received for diff grades of milk? How the research for the "skim milk" cow is progressing? What role the turnips play in the feed rations? I was down there from 25 Feb to 18 Mar. Chch. Loved it. Beautiful. Thanks to the farming community for beautifying the countryside. Be watchful (gov regs?) of the encroaching numbers of Canadian thistle: I saw them all over; from mountain roadsides to ungrazed pasture to the Canterbury plains. They will only get worse. Ignoring them won't make them go away. And who wants more gov regs? Don Bee, 70, small IA farming community. Very little dairying around here any more. Thank you.
Hi Don,
If I knew of other NZ dairy farmers on-line, I'd point you to them for more info... the dairynz (dexcel changed its name a year or two ago) site www.dairynz.co.nz has a lot of useful information for dairy farmers.
The number 1 and 2 breeds are Holstein-Friesian and Jersey, but the crossbred (kiwicross) is fast becoming the most popular. I think there are still more Holstein-Friesians than any other breed.
I don't know about the skim-milk cow - she had a name and a bunch of daughters and tbh I laughed when I saw what the research was. Every herd has a few cows like her. They tend to get culled.
Perhaps it's not surprising that I've heard nothing since.
Have a look around via google (if you use this blog name + "rotation" you should find details of how I feed my cows) for information on feed and pasture management. I use the traditional low input, predominantly pasture system, spring calving to match grass growth with demand. There's a lot of other ways of feeding cows being used, especially following last year's drought when many farmers started using supplementary feeeds like never before.
There's not many farmers who ignore californian thistle. But it does take determined effort to control them.
google wasn't that helpful even with knowing what I was looking for :(
Here's a couple links on grazing management:
http://cowcalfandvet.blogspot.com/2008/01/january-silage.html
http://cowcalfandvet.blogspot.com/2007/04/feed-budgeting.html
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