The University of Kentucky recently released a new fact sheet on fresh cow health management. The 15-page document includes photo tutorials, scoring systems and record sheets to aid in fresh cow handling from one to 21 days in milk.
Graduate Extension Assistant Amanda Sterrett explains how and why the University of Kentucky created its new fact sheet – "A Fresh Cow Health Monitoring System."
Why did you create this transition cow 'fact sheet'?
Sterrett: Although disease prevention is the best way to maintain healthy fresh cows, prevention efforts sometimes fail so the next best option is to detect problems early. Unfortunately, fresh cow problems are often caught too late, overlooked or not well-recorded so we wanted to provide a scoring and recording system that could help producers detect and track their herd’s fresh cow health to improve fresh cow management.
How do you envision dairy producers using this system?
Sterrett: We hope that producers can find a fit for these exams in a way that works consistently with their daily schedule and that they do not forget to put their experience and expertise to work when interpreting the information.
We also recommend that producers keep the recorded information long after each cow’s exams are finished in order to evaluate herd trends and to understand each cow’s history for subsequent lactations.
What one or two aspects of the system do you believe need better implementation industry wide?
Sterrett: Two aspects of this system that could be better implemented as an industry are early disease detection and thorough fresh cow disease record keeping.
Early disease detection can increase treatment efficacy, decrease disease severity and decrease economic losses related to the disease. Thorough record keeping can pinpoint success areas and areas for improvement and can give herd veterinarians and nutritionists a leg up when solving problems and formulating rations. PD
Walt Cooley
Editor
Progressive Dairyman
