Dairy cow lactation transition Dairy cow lactation transition

Dairy cow lactation transition

The transition from the dry cow period to lactation has an enormous impact on dairy cows. During this period, cows go through three physiological adaptations: immune adaptation, digestive adaptation and metabolic adaptation to support the next lactation and pregnancy. Getting through this transition without excess stress is crucial for a healthy lactation.

How to recognise

Poor metabolic and digestive adaptation during the transition period results in metabolic stress, which impairs the adaptation of the immune system and increases the incidence of metabolic diseases that drive:

  • Increased risk of developing sub-clinical or clinical ketosis
  • Increased risk of fatty liver
  • High incidence of milk fever, increased incidence of retained placenta and infections of the reproductive tract.
  • Increased incidence of mastitis
  • Increased risk of hindgut acidosis
  • High incidence of leaky gut
  • Poor production and fertility
  • High early culling rates (during the 100 days in milk)
  • Decreased cow longevity

The impact on the farmer

Good management of the transition period, along with a well-balanced diet, will increase a cow’s lifetime daily yield and number of lactations per cow by improving fertility, increasing milk yield per lactation and reducing involuntary culling. Not only will this improve a farm’s financial performance, but also result in sustainable milk production, now and in the future.

Our offering for cow management

Farm-O-San - Solutions for better livestock performance
Hendrix - Protein concentratesss
Enrich livestock nutrition with Maxcare feed supplements
Optimal animal performance and business success with NutriOpt
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Do you need more information?

HealthyLife dairy research shows the importance of managing the balance between production level and longevity well in order to strongly reduce involuntary culling and increase both longevity and profitability on your dairy farm.

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