Changes

'''Inadequate dry cow diet''': the diet fed immediately before calving (the transitional cow diet) should be formulated to stimulate the development of rumen papillae and the acquisition of an appropriate colony of microflora. This should ensure that cattle can adequately ferment the post-calving diet and effectively absorb the nutrients it provides. Therefore, if the dry cow diet does not encourage these processes, volatile fatty acids can accumulate in the rumen when the lactation diet is introduced, leading to SARA. This is a particularly common problem, since dry cows are "non-milkers" and so tend to be the forgotten members of a herd.

'''Inadequate dry cow diet''': the diet fed immediately before calving (the transitional cow diet) should be formulated to stimulate the development of rumen papillae and the acquisition of an appropriate colony of microflora. This should ensure that cattle can adequately ferment the post-calving diet and effectively absorb the nutrients it provides. Therefore, if the dry cow diet does not encourage these processes, volatile fatty acids can accumulate in the rumen when the lactation diet is introduced, leading to SARA. This is a particularly common problem, since dry cows are "non-milkers" and so tend to be the forgotten members of a herd.

'''Feeding post-calving''':

'''Post-calving nutrition''': The "transitional period" for a dairy cow is defined as the period four weeks pre-calving, to four weeks-post calving. Often, farmers will provide a transition diet before calving, but introduce the lactating cow diet immediately afterwards. In the first four weeks after calving, the rumen cannot properly handle diets that are dense in energy: the ration fed in this period ideally should contain 10% more energy than the transition diet fed before calving. the rationale to this is that dry matter intake will be increased, and will then remain at high levels throughout lactation. Animals do not achieve their peak milk yield in the first few weeks post-calving, and so optimising dry matter intake rather than maximising the energy consumed should not cause problems.

While most farmers appreciate the need for a pre-calving

that the transition period is properly defined as three to

four weeks pre-calving to three to four weeks post-calving.

be fed a relatively low energy diet during this postcalving

period. Ideally, the energy density of the diet

during this time should be no more than 10 per cent

greater than the transition diet. In practice, this means

that freshly calved cows should remain on a diet suitable

encourage a maximal dry matter intake and avoid

with too high an energy density in the mistaken belief

that they would otherwise develop negative energy balance.

Many cows and their lactations are ruined during

The objective during the post-calving period is to

maximise dry matter intake rather than keep up with the

daily energy requirements of the cow.

'''Sorting of long fibre''':

'''Sorting of long fibre''':