Survey of dry cow management on UK commercial dairy farms
- Resource Type
- Authors
- Alastair Macrae; Kenneth M.D. Rutherford; Mayumi Fujiwara; Marie J. Haskell
- Source
- Fujiwara, M, Haskell, M J, Macrae, A & Rutherford, K 2018, ' A survey of dry cow management on UK commercial dairy farms ', Veterinary Record, vol. 183, no. 9 . https://doi.org/10.1136/vr.104755
- Subject
- Male
0301 basic medicine
Farms
Biology
High yielding
Milking
housing systems
stress
03 medical and health sciences
Mammary Glands, Animal
Animal science
Surveys and Questionnaires
Lactation
medicine
Animals
Humans
dry-off procedure
grouping strategy
General Veterinary
dry cow management
0402 animal and dairy science
food and beverages
04 agricultural and veterinary sciences
General Medicine
Middle Aged
Milk production
040201 dairy & animal science
United Kingdom
Anti-Bacterial Agents
Dairying
Milk
030104 developmental biology
medicine.anatomical_structure
Cattle
Female
feeding
- Language
- ISSN
- 0042-4900
Dry period management of the dairy cow focuses on maximising milk production during the subsequent lactation but may include procedures that negatively affect dry cow health and welfare. A survey of dairy farmers in the United Kingdom (UK) was conducted to investigate dry cow management procedures. The questionnaire was completed by 148 farmers. Most farms (84%) kept dry cows in dynamic social groups. The median length of the dry period was 56 days, and 83% of farms stopped milking abruptly, regardless of milk production level at dry-off. Twenty-seven percent of cows from respondent farms produced more than 20kg of milk per day at dry-off. The majority of farms (78%) used antibiotic dry cow intramammary tubes at dry-off in combination with internal or external teat sealants. Procedures that were commonly practised and potentially stressful for dry cows included abrupt cessation of milking of high yielding cows and frequent changes in diet and social environment.