The period from 21 days before to 28 days after calving is the most critical time for a dairy cow. If a dairy cow is going to go wrong, chances are that she’ll go wrong during the transition period. Yet, many of our decisions regarding transition cow management are either poorly informed or poorly executed, the net result being that many dairy cows fail to reach their genetic potential or optimum profitability. The detail involved in these decisions is staggering and it takes your full team, working in unison, to pull it off. In the May issue of The Dairy Mail, the Chemuniqué “Comfort column” explores how your team should be interacting in order to succeed during this critical period.
Alex Jenkins is a technical specialist in the ruminant team at Chemuniqué and holds a master's degree in animal science from the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
