With many cows being dried off in the next month it is timely to review some of the important issues of dry off. The dry period is the best opportunity to let the udder repair and recover from any infection that may be present.

Some critical points to consider:

• Planning must be done in advance - if possible a Mastitis Focus Report should be generated from your data, here

• Cows must be producing below 12 litres/day - feeding needs to be adjusted for the group to be dried off if over 12 litres

• Consider blanket dry cow therapy - most herds achieve the best control of mastitis by using blanket dry cow therapy. Selective dry cow therapy can be used if a list of criteria are all met. A list of these criteria are here

• Use the right product - this is dependent on a number of factors. If in doubt, please contact us for advice

• It is best to dry off abruptly - don't skip days or milk once a day

• Mind your administration technique - extreme care with hygiene is necessary as there will be no flushing effect to remove any introduced bugs

• Other treatments can be given - this is a great time to drench, vaccinate and in some cases administer minerals. This needs planning in advance

• Observe cows daily after drying off - check cows in paddock for signs of swollen quarters. Do not bring up near dairy unless absolutely necessary as this can cause milk let-down

Dairy Australia has developed a great app for Apple or Android phones. It is called the Countdown Mastitis Toolkit and is free. The app covers all aspects of mastitis, including drying off. To find these follow the links below:
To download from iTunes, click here
To download from Google Play, click here

Many pregnancies in cattle terminate before they hardly get started. This failure of pregnancy to proceed may occur within microseconds after fertilisation, or it might occur at any stage of pregnancy. However most losses occur in the first 2 weeks of development (for example when an embryo degenerates, Figure 1) and thus represent early pregnancy loss, or EPL.

Until recently, the causes of EPL have been poorly understood with much of it assumed to be inevitable. However, this assumption is being challenged today on several fronts. To better understand what might be preventable, we first need to look at the different factors which can contribute to loss. These can be discussed as follows:

Genetic/Coding Anomalies

This category includes chromosome problems (e.g. number, structure or poor pairing) which can lead to early termination of pregnancy. However, this probably occurs less often than commonly thought. On the other hand, disturbances of DNA integrity or packaging are increasingly implicated in EPL as discussed below.

Stress

Although physical and/or psychological stress can lead to infertility via disruption of those hormones causing heat and ovulation, they very rarely cause EPL. Despite this, heat stress definitely plays a role. Here, research from Florida showed there are two critical periods for heat stress (measured by the temperature-humidity index) to cause damage: just after fertilisation, and at the time of implantation (approximately 2 weeks after breeding).

Many pregnancies in cattle terminate before they hardly get started. This failure of pregnancy to proceed may occur within microseconds after fertilisation, or it might occur at any stage of pregnancy. However most losses occur in the first 2 weeks of development (for example when an embryo degenerates, Figure 1) and thus represent early pregnancy loss, or EPL.

Until recently, the causes of EPL have been poorly understood with much of it assumed to be inevitable. However, this assumption is being challenged today on several fronts. To better understand what might be preventable, we first need to look at the different factors which can contribute to loss. These can be discussed as follows:

Genetic/Coding Anomalies

This category includes chromosome problems (e.g. number, structure or poor pairing) which can lead to early termination of pregnancy. However, this probably occurs less often than commonly thought. On the other hand, disturbances of DNA integrity or packaging are increasingly implicated in EPL as discussed below.

Stress

Although physical and/or psychological stress can lead to infertility via disruption of those hormones causing heat and ovulation, they very rarely cause EPL. Despite this, heat stress definitely plays a role. Here, research from Florida showed there are two critical periods for heat stress (measured by the temperature-humidity index) to cause damage: just after fertilisation, and at the time of implantation (approximately 2 weeks after breeding).