Dairy Management

Calf rearing

Calf rearing is a very important part of dairy cattle management.

In order to ensure a good weight at birth (about 6-8% of mature body weight) of
claves, proper feeding and management of the pregnant heifers or cows is very
important.

Care of new born calf at birth

Removal of any membranes or mucus adhering to nostrils, eyes and ears
Ensure breathing by removal of any matter in the respiratory passage by
raising the calf by its hind legs.
The navel cord that has already severed should be tied 1 inch below the
abdominal wall.
Apply Iodine solution (disinfectant) and Margosa oil (fly repellent) on the
cord.
Allow the cow to link and clean the animal
Feeding of colostrums (Colostrum is he milk produced by the cow during
the first 4 days after calving).
Colostrum

Colostrum increases the immunity. It is highly nutritious and helps to clean the
intestinal tract.

Natural feeding of milk

This is the easiest way to feed the calf. Under any efficient stimulation and
milking procedure milker can harvest only about 75-80% of the milk. Only the
calf can have access to retained milk in the udder. A common way in which dairy
calves are reared is to allow calves to suckle only at certain times of the day.
This is referred to as restricted milking. This stimulates milking or milk let down,
and improves calf growth and helps to reduce mastitis.

Feeding of roughage and concentrates to calves

Objectives of feeding roughage & concentrates are to enhance the rate of

rumen development by reducing the amount of milk given rate of the rumen
and to facilitate early weaning.Good quality hay and concentrates can be
introduced from the 10th day age onwards. Calves can be introduced to eat
concentrates by rubbing concentrates on its mouth and nose.
As the concentrate feed 'premix calf starter ration' or mixture of Coconut
poonac and Rice the ratio 1:l or 2:1can be used.
 Encourage the calf to eat R& C, Once sufficient amounts of R & C are
consumed by the calf after 4 weeks, gradually can reduced the daily milk
ration.
Keep R & C available all the time.
Keep mineral mixture or steamed bone meal and clean drinking water at
all times.

Optimum stage for weaning of calves from milk

Average calf can be weaned when they have reached 8 weeks of age. At
this stage they have 10-12% of mature body weight or they have reached
twice the weight at birth.
2. Calf should be able to consume sufficient concentrates (0.5kg) and hay
and grass (0.5kg)

Special treatments during the calf rearing period

1. Identification; ear tagging, Ear notching & tattooing

2. Dehorning; can use caustic potash or with hot iron

Caustic potash; This should be done within the first week after birth. Remove
the hair of an area about 2.5cm in diameter, over the rudimentary horns and
spread a little heavy grease (milking jelly) around the outer edge of this area, it
prevents the running of caustic potash in to the eyes. After the treatment leave
the calf alone for at least one day.

Management of Heifers

Female calves are called as heifer calves and after weaning they are called
heifers. Feeding, health and growth of the heifers must satisfy the following
requirements;

To achieve a high survival rate

To reach puberty at about 12 months of age
To become pregnant at 15-20 months of age
To calve at 24-30 months of age and then to produce milk satisfactorily
To return to heat and be pregnant again within 70 to 80 days of calving

Heat signs

To become successful in dairy farming detection of oestrus (heat) and

subsequent breeding is the most important aspect and it is the most frequently
ignored aspect by the dairy farmers. If this is not detected this will extend the
age at first calving or calving interval. The normal heat signs show by a cow are
listed below.

Standing to be mounted by other cows

Cow may attempt to mount on others
Swollen, moist and redden vulva
Watery mucous discharge from the vulva and adhering them to the tail
and legs
Restlessness
Bellowing
Frequent urination
Raised tail'- Best sign for heifers
Slight drop in milk production- in milking animals
Loss of appetite

Breeding of heifers

In tropical countries cows often show heat signs for shorter period of time
(about 12 hours) Therefore, one must be extremely on alert in looking for heat
signs. Heat signs are more frequently observed early in the morning hours, and
it is the best time of the day to detect the heat. Cows that show heat signs in
the morning must be bred in the evening on the same day. The best time for
insemination is the first 8 hours of heat (in the case of natural service the cow
should be brought close to the bull shortly after the heat signs are observed).
Cows that come on the afternoon or evening should be inseminated on the next
day in the morning.

Young heifers show heat signs before they reach to the required size.
Sometimes they show heat signs even before one-year-old. If they are bred at
this stage they may either have difficulty in calving or their growth may be
stunted because of the pregnancy, and the potential milk production for the first
lactation will be significantly less. Therefore, it is generally advisable to breed
heifers at 18 months age or thereafter, when they are more physiologically
mature and have reached a weight which corresponds to 70% of their expected
mature body weight.

Care of cattle to be inseminated

Inseminating should be done in a quiet environment. The animals should be tied

on such a place cannot jump (for instance in a crush). Before and after the
insemination the animals should be well fed and supplied with water. The
animals should be placed in a shade. When well treated conception rate is
higher.
The in-calf heifer

The gestation period of cow is about 280 days, depending on the breed. Two
months before the expected calving date, the cow should be dried off. During
the "Dry" period, the faetus increases its weights considerably.

Cattle housing systems

The variety of structures used to house dairy animals in Sri Lanka is shown in
plates 1 and 2. The housing facilities provided by small holder dairy farmers in
Sri Lanka are not only inadequate (roof, ventilation, floor condition, space,
drainage, manure collection) but also results in feed wastage due to lack of
proper feed troughs.
Most of the systems have in developed in Europe, therefore it is necessary to
select or modify these systems that suit to local condition. Some factors that
should be considered in designing a house are listed below.

1. Sufficient yard space/paddock for keeping animals

2. Sufficient clean water
3. Sufficient feed space (Feed trough/manager)
4. Sufficient shade in the feeding/grazing/loafing area

Two main housing systems can be identified.

1. Tie up housing (Picture 1)

2. Loose housing

Tie up housing systems

In this system each cow is restrained in a stall and feed is delivered in to a

manger in front of the cows. Milking is taken place individually in the stall and
the manure is collected in a gutter

The disadvantages of these systems are;

1. When animals are kept for longer period, cows can have hoof problems,
and also due to lack of exercise cows can have stiff legs.
2. Interferes with some management practices (heat detection is difficult)
3. Trampling of teats (adjacent animals can move laterally and trample the
teats)

The salts can be arranged in a single row or in double rows. In the double row
arrangement, cows can be stalled: (a) Facing each other (head to head) with a
central feeding alley or (b) Facing outside of the house (tail to tail) with a central
milking alley and double feeding alley.

Diagram -Tie up housing

The measurements for cows with a weight of 500-600kg are given in table 1.1.
The stall size can vary according to the size of the animal. The cows are usually
separated by partitions. When there are no partitions the stall width has to be
increased by 50-100mm. One drinking bowls can be provided for 2 animals. Soft
bedding is essential for comfort of the cows. This helps to keep animals clean
and also prevents hoof problems. The width of the manage must be 0.5-0.6m
and bottom m of the manger should be at least 4-5 cm higher than the stall
level.

Table 1.1 Dimensions of the stall (meters) according to the gutter

system

Gutter System Width Length

1.10-1.20 1.10 1.20 1.55-1.65

1.10-1.20 1.10 1.20 1.45-1.55

Loose housing system

In loose housing the cows are not tied-up. They can walk around freely. In this
type of housing there is usually a loafing area and a lying area. Feeding area is
separated from the lying area. Because the manure is spread over a large floor
area, dung is collected by scraping by hand in to a manure pit or a channel.
Feed can be provided in to a manger behind feeding rack with one or more cows
per feeding place. It is advisable to have one feeding place per cow.

The advantages of loose housing systems are;

Cost of construction is much lower than the conventional type

1. Facilitates for easy detection of heat

2. Get optimum exercises for animals
3. Overall better management can be rendered
4. The important features of the loose housing systems are listed below
5. Sheds should have proper space for milking barns or parlour, calving and
calf pens.
6. There should be arrangement for feeding manger, drinking area and
loafing area
7. Floor should be cemented or brick paved so as to make cleaning easy
8. Drains should be shallow and preferably covered with removable tiles or
slabs
9. Drains should have a gradient of 1" for every 10' length
10. Roofing may be of corrugated cement or tin sheets, asbestos

Table 1.2 Floor and manger space requirements

Feeding rack

The manager is separated from the loafing alley by a feeding rack. The different
types of feeding racks available are shown in figure 2.
Structure of the house

For roofing it is desirable to use reflecting roofing material like aluminium or

asbestos sheets. However, hay, straw or leaves can also provide a shade in
areas where strong winds are not prevalent. To reduce radian heat load, extra
insulation beneath the roofing material, preferably with an air gap may be
beneficial.

Structures of the tie-up houses

The roof of a tie-up house is usually a beam construction covered with
roofing material.

Diagram 3 - Single row tie-up house

With a double row house, a hatched roof construction is preferred due to

the larger width. To stimulate natural ventilation the ridge is carried out as
an open ridge.
 Diagram 4 - two row tie-up house

In very hot climates, an extra ventilation gap halfway the roof combined with
transverse ventilation may be an added advantage.

Structure of loose houses

In loose houses the roofs may be constructed in various ways. Flat roofs are
satisfactory in areas with low rainfall, but in higher rainfall areas a sloping leak
proof roof is advisable. Loose houses with a common lying area should
preferably run north to south so that the sunlight will strike all part of the lying
area at some time during the day to facilitate drying of the lying area. Also due
consideration should be given to the prevailing wind direction during the
planning stage of the building.

A minimum height of the side walls of 3.0 m is recommended. Depending on

temperature, wind velocity and rainfall side walls may have to be left out partly
or entirely.

The concrete alleys of loose houses must be sloped in the direction of manure
movement. A 3% slope is recommended when manure is scraped out. The floor
of the alley must be level from side to side.

Management of cows

Cows need to be kept in stress-free surrounding with as little variation as

possible in environment and feeding regime. In such conditions, cows will
maintain good health and body condition enabling to produce a calf regularly
and give optimum milk yield.

Feeding of dairy cows

This depends on milk yield and body weight of the cow. They can be fed with
concentrates and roughages (Detailed given later)

Management at calving

Calving is A time of extra stress for the cows and the new born calf and also a
very busy time for the farmer. Improper management at this stage can have
serious effects on their subsequent performance and even their chances of
survival. Calving date can be predicted from mating dates and cows which are
about to calve usually be recognized by the enlargement of udder, and swelling
and relaxation of the flesh around the vulva. The common signs of parturition,
are given below.

Distended udder & congestion of udder Relaxation of pelvic ligaments

Elevated tail
Vulva become swollen and reddened
Mucous discharge from vulva
Frequent urination
Loss of appetite
Dilation of vulva
Restlessness-frequent lying down and standing up

When calving begins the cow shows uneasiness, lying down and raising again
and walking with difficulty. Her vulva will have swollen and begun to discharge
mucous. The ligaments on each side of tail head will loosen and as she begins
irregular staining she often glances backwards. These signs indicate that she
will likely calve in a few hours.

One to two hours before calving the 'water bag' usually appears filled with
amniotic fluid that assists to dilate and lubricate the passageway through which
the calf will pass. The normal position of the calf in the womb and the
appearance of the water bag indicating that calving has begun is shown in
Figure 1.
Figure 5

During a normal calving two feet should appear before two hours have passed
since the water bag appeared, (figure 2) followed by the nose and within one
hour the whole head (figure 3). Within few minutes the shoulders and finally the
entire calf will quickly be trusted out.

Milking the herd

In dairy farming, there is a direct link between milk production and financial
returns. Whether to milk cows by hand or by machines will depend on the labor
costs and the size of the herd. As far as milk production and udder health are
concerned, hand milking is quite in order if skilled person does it correctly. The
general rules are,

Milk at regular intervals

Maintain peace and quiet in the shed
Animals should be treated gently but firmly
 Milker should have clean hands, kept fingernails short and worn clean
clothing
Milk quickly and evenly with little pulling of teats as possible

Hand milking

Udder preparation (stimulation)

Cleaning of the teats and the udder itself to avoid contamination of milk with
dirt
Checking the fore milk for mastitis

This will induce the cow to let down milk. The flank should also be cleaned. For
efficient cleaning it is necessary to clip the hair of the udder regularly and part
of the flank. After washing, udder should be dried with a cloth or with a paper
towel.

For checking the fore milk, foremilk cup (a strip cup with a black mesh or cloth
spread over it) is required. Some milk must be stripped on to the black cloth of
the cup and observe for mastitis. When small floccules are observed, this may
be mastitis. Therefore this should be informed to a veterinary surgeon.

If find above condition in a cow, milking it at last will avoid contaminations.

Washing of the udder and fore milk testing are normalstimulus for milk let down.
Stimulus can be intensified by; sound (buckets), seeing the milker, by calf and
washing the udder with luke warm water. Once the stimulus is given and
oxytocin is released, the milker should be able to complete milking of cow within
5-6 minutes.

Techniques of hand milking

Full hand milking dry fist

Grasp the teat using whole hand and press it against the palm with Finger from
up down ward in quick succession of compression and relaxation (eg. Forced
rhythmic squeezing)

Stripping
sliding the teat with thumb and forefinger
Pinching
Kind of stripping using 2n and 3r finger
knuckling
Bend the thumb and press the teat with the rest of the fingers
Figure hand milking methods & Full hand milking procedure

The best method is the full hand milking with forced rhythmic squeezing;

This maintains a strong milk let-down reflex

It is rapid way of evacuating milk from the udder

It is more or less permanent stretching of the teat canal

Strong hand milking has a favorable effect on flow rate, while weak squeezing
produces cows that milk badly.
But full hand milking is difficult with cows with small teats

Good hand milking procedures

1. Tying hind legs with a rope or special strap. It is often necessary to tie the
hind legs of the cows especially with young or excited animals, otherwise the
risk of overturning the bucket is high
2. Washing of hand s with soap.
3. Careful cleaning of the udder with water, and the flank of the cow.
4. Testing of the foremilk (strip cup)
5. Sitting on the right side of the cow
6. Sit upright with bucket held between milking with the front two quarters
7. Advisable to start milking with the front two quarters. The rear quarters could
be reached easily when the front quarters are empty (ratio of milk quantities
in front and rear quarter is 40:60).
8. Dip the teats in a dilute solution of formic acid or acetic acid.
Full hand milking diagram

Mainly two types

Bucket milking (Cow shed))

The bucket plant is the simplest form of milking installation and is still the most
commonly used plant in South Asian region. Diagram illustrates the basic
components of a bucket type plant. In addition to the parts listed, it also
requires a vacuum unit (pump, motor, vacuum tank), vacuum regulator and
vacuum gauge. The milk flows straight from the cluster through the long milk
tube to the bucket. The bucket has the capacity of about 20 liters, and when the
bucket is full the vacuum HAS to be released and bucket emptied. Bucket
milking is normally used with small herds (tied cows) and with newly calved
cows irrespective of the size of the herd and type of housing.
Pipeline milking (Cow shed or parlour)

In large herds in order to avoid the tedious and repetitive work of changing and
emptying buckets, some farmers are prefer a pipeline installation. (Diagram-
basic component of a milking pipeline design)

Frequency of milking

Inhibition of milk secretion occurs when the time interval between two milking is
longer than 16 hours. Therefore twice daily milking is the minimal frequency of
milking if maximum yields are to be obtained. Compared to twice daily milking,
thrice daily milking, the daily milk production can be increased by 9-15%.

Once daily milking reduces the daily milk yield as well as the total milk yield for
the whole lactation. Heifers more adversely affected than mature cows. Missing
 an occasional milking have little effect takes about 2-3 days to come back to
daily production levels.

Milking order

First animals on first lactation, second animals without mastitis history, last
animals having or suspected of mastitis.
Nutrition and feeding

The nutritive value of a feed is usually assessed by the amounts of nutrient it

contains. Feeds can be generally classified as roughages and concentrates.
Roughages include grasses (natural and improved), creepers (climbers),
legumes (eg.siratro, centrosema), leguminous tree fodder (eg.Glyricidia and ipil
ipil) and non-leguminous (eg. jak and mango) trees and shrubs and agricultural
(straws, stover) and agro-industrial by products (soya hulls, bagasse).
Concentrates include coconut poonack, rice barn/polish and cereal grain etc.

Feed rations

In order to calculate the amount of feed an animal should consume to meet the
requirement of a particular nutrient, it is necessary to divide the total
requirement for each nutrient of the animal, by the amount of the particular
nutrient supplied by a kg of feed. Frequently, there are two or more feeds that
need to be combined to make up the diet of the animal. The farmer has to
decide the mixture of feed that are most appropriate. This decision depends on
the feeds that are available, nutrient contents and the cost

Rations for growing animals

The guidelines for feeding claves and heifers up to maturity are provided in
table 10.5. For simplic ity, the rations are based on grass and concentrates.
Nevertheless in reality, the options that farmer has in choosing from among the
various feed resources that are available at farm level may be extensive.

Some thoughts and points to remember:

1. During the first weeks of calfhood, the amount of hay/fresh grass and
concentrate feed offered should be gradually increased. About 30g of good
quality hay or 50g of grass, and about 30 g of calf starter or 50g of prepared
concentrate mixture.
2. Between the 1st and 2nd month:
3. Ensure that, at weaning calf should double its birth weight. After finishing
3rd month we can stop giving milk.The calves should be dewormed at 3rd week,
3rd month, 6th month, 9th month and 12th month If the calf is attacked by
 ticks, treatment should be given for both mother and calf. Method of treating
and quantity depend on type of drug.
4. Between the 7th to 9th month -To obtain optimum body weight gain within
first 9 months, calf should be fed adequate amount of quality feed, mineral,
vitamins and water. The growth rate or body weight gain is fast till the 9th
month age, after that the rate of gain will gradually reduce.
5. From 16th to 18th month -According to the second ration, by providing
high amount of roughages, we can reduce the amount of concentrate given to
the animal and at the same time it can cut down the feeding cost. However, if it
is difficult to find large quantities of roughages to satisfy the animal's intake
capacity, so has to depend on well-balanced concentrate mixtures.

Table 10.5 practical rations -from calf stage to first calving

If we can provide proper management conditions with proper feeding system,

within 13-18 months first heat signs can be observed in heifers (60% of mature
body weight). Rations for lactating animals.

In formulating rations for lactating cows, the nutrient requirements for

maintenance (which depends on body weight) and milk, both in terms of the
yield and milk fat content have to be taken in to consideration. Further
knowledge of the nutritive value of the feeds that are available to the farmer is
necessary. Information in table 10.1 and 10.2 is important for this aspect.

Formulation of feed rations involves the selection and combinations of a number

of feeds in a manner that will meet the animal requirements at the lowest
possible cost. Ration formulation, as a daily farming practice requires knowledge
of the availability, price and composition of feeds. It also requires an insight in
to the nutrient requirements of animals, based on the objectives for which they
are maintained.
Example ration for lactating animal

Step 1

Determine the TDN and DCP requirements of the cow from the information given
in the Table 10.3.
A 300 Kg cow producing 8L milk with 3.7% fat requires 6100g TDN 900gDCP
(from Table 10.3). When adjusted for the extra weight (+5 0kg), the additional
TDN and DCP requirements are +300 and +25 respectively. Therefore; Total
requirement for 350kg cow producing 8L milk are 6400g TDN and 925g DCP.
Step 2

Obtain the nutritive values for the available feeds from Table 10.4

Step 3
Ration formulation

TDN (g) DCP (g)

Guinea grass - 1kg 116 19

Glyricidiai - 1kg 142 50

Coconut poonac - 1kg 683 148

Urea molasses multinutrient mixture (UMM) 1kg 764 46

Note:

The maximum dry matter intake of a 350kg cow is 3%of body weight, that is
10.5kg. As the intake of grass and glyricidia by the cow is 9.1kg, the balance
that the cow could consume is 1.4 kg dry matter. This space limitation in the
rumen applies only when roughages are fed. When good quality
concentrates or urea-molasses multinutrient mixture is fed , the cow will
consume 2-3 times this amount.
A third feed resource has to be included in the ration to overcome the
shortfall of 1334g (6400-5066) of TDN. Because of the space limitation in the
rumen, one has to feed a concentrate like coconut poonac or UMM. The
farmer thus has two options.
The DCP requirement of 925g is almost satisfied by feeding grass and
glyricidia

Step 4

In order to bridge the shortfall of 1334g of TDN on could feed;

l334/683=1.95 kg of coconut poonac or
1334/784-1.75 kg of UMM

The ultimate choice is an economic one, it might favor the use of UMM in a
district or province, while the use of coconut poonac might have the economic
advantages in another. This is just a example and in the reality, the options that
a farmer has in choosing from among the various feed resources that are
available at farm level may be extensive.