Ayrshire: Improving cow health during the transition period

Join strategic dairy farm hosts, Wallace Hendrie, Millands, and David Campbell, Low Ballees, to find out how you can ensure a smooth transition period for your cows.

Transition cow management influences health, production, pregnancy rate and longevity of any dairy herd. The transition from late gestation to early lactation is challenging for both animals and dairy producers. Closely managing cows during this time is crucial to making sure transition goes smoothly.

We will be joined by vet Alan Walker, Armour Veterinary Group, and Alastair Macrae, University of Edinburgh, talking us through the importance of nutrition and disease management and the principles of metabolic profiling, across both all year round and block calving systems. Using both Low Ballees and Millands as case studies, we will  analyse the results from the metabolic profiles for both herds, exploring what the data tell us, what is working well, and what changes can be made to improve the status of the cows.

Metabolic profiling is a useful management tool to assess a cow’s diet and analyse the nutritional and health status of the herd.  By analysing blood samples, metabolic profiling investigates various parameters to provide information on protein, energy and mineral status of the cows, helping you to improve the nutritional and disease status of your herd while increasing profitability with increased efficiency and production.

We will demonstrate the value of reviewing data and how to approach it. Wallace and David will discuss where things have gone well and discuss what they did to achieve these results.  We will also identify areas they are looking to further improve.

During the discussion, we will cover: 

• Management factors to increase herd health
• What is Metabolic Profiling and what does it tell us?
• The energy needs of the dairy cow
• Setting and hitting targets

Please note children under the age of 16 and dogs are not allowed at the event, even if they are staying in the car. Click here to find out more about AHDBs health and safety guidelines for events.