pathway to profitability: monitoring & measuring ... · vita plus dairy summit 2012 •...

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Vita Plus Dairy Summit 2012 • Strength in Numbers

December5&6,2012•Merrillville,Indiana

PATHWAY TO PROFITABILITY: MONITORING & MEASURING TRANSITION PERFORMANCE

Dr. Laurie Winkelman & Dr. Neil Michael

Vita Plus Corporation



The Transition Period

• 3 weeks pre‐calving to 3 weeks postpartum

• Decrease in intake as calving approaches

• Intake after calving doesn’t meet needs for high milk– Energetic imbalance

– Mild non‐esterified fatty acid (NEFA) release from body is normal

– Excessive NEFA release leads to problems

• Glucose sparing for use by the udder, insulin resistance

• Huge demand for calcium at onset of lactation

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Illustration courtesy of Dr. K. L. Schoenberg.

Impaired glucose disposal

Glucose sparing for gravid uterus and eventually the

mammary gland

Increased hepatic gluconeogenesis

Decreased insulin response of

adipose tissue

Increased mobilization of fatty acids

Changes in intake



Goals of Transition Cow Programs

1. Maximize the appetite of the cow at and after calving.2. Provide a palatable, well‐balanced, and highly digestible diet

to allow the cow to attempt to meet her nutritional requirements.

3. Maintain (or enhance) immune function.4. Minimize the extent of body fat mobilization around calving

to that which is “normal” for the cow.5. Provide adequate MP to meet amino acid requirements for

maintenance, fetal or milk requirements, and immune function.

6. Maintain blood calcium and magnesium at and after calving.

Dr. Jim Drackley, University of Illinois

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What is ‘Monitoring’?

• Relative to dairy operations (Rapnicki & Stewart, 2003)

– Routine, systematic collection & evaluation of information

– Used to assess and determine:• Current status

• Detect recent changes

• Identify problems

• Track performance over time

• What to monitor and why…



MONITORING METABOLIC DISEASES AND DISORDERS

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The problem with other measures…

• Peak milk

• Cull rate in first 60 DIM

• First test Fat:Protein ratio

• Dry matter intake

Lag, momentum, bias, variation, sensitivity, specificity

Can you make management changes relative to what you are monitoring or is it too late?



Disease Incidence Targets, Costs

Disease Target Incidence Cost/case

Displaced Abomasum <5% $340/case

Ketosis <20% $145/case

Retained Placenta <5% $285/case

Metritis <15% $350/case

Milk Fever <5% $350/case

Mastitis <20% $110/case

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Steps to Track Animal Health

1. List the diseases you want to track

2. Discuss diagnosis protocols with veterinarian and WRITE THEM DOWN.

– Consistency in identification and recording

3. Record DISEASES as they occur.

– Computer software, paper, etc.

4. Review incidence regularly.



SOPS and Definitions of Diseases

• Difficult to obtain accurate data to use for monitoring

– Treatments versus disease diagnoses• “New” treatments versus repeated treatments for the same case

• Computer management software doesn’t differentiate between cases and treatments

• Lags can be built into Dairy Comp to help with new case recording

– Diagnosing abilities vary from farm to farm and employee to employee within farm

• Must develop good SOPs and definitions to help reduce variation

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# Event Total Nov11 Dec11 Jan12 Feb12 Mar12 Apr12 May12 Jun12 Jul12 Aug12 Sep12 Oct12 Nov12

========== ===== ===== ===== ===== ===== ===== ===== ===== ===== ===== ===== ===== ===== =====

1 FRESH 1404 88 131 140 94 100 68 112 130 165 120 108 116 32

2 OK 2030 127 171 196 225 102 132 167 163 186 186 138 201 36

3 RECK 27 3 2 4 4 0 6 5 1 0 1 0 0 1

4 HEAT 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0

5 BRED 2668 147 257 218 219 272 210 210 189 150 250 274 226 46

6 PREG 969 71 107 97 101 106 86 90 64 37 89 117 4 0

7 OPEN 1408 75 145 117 114 161 119 111 116 110 150 148 42 0

8 PREV 337 1 26 45 11 28 24 24 27 46 22 20 31 32

9 MOVE 5207 435 499 434 351 326 367 487 352 487 470 350 502 147

10 BULLPEN 691 53 46 77 39 58 62 80 47 70 42 38 77 2

11 DRY 1007 67 80 71 64 54 76 108 92 89 100 81 103 22

12 ABORT 116 5 15 4 9 15 20 14 8 11 3 12 0 0

13 DNB 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0

14 SOLD 379 21 29 43 28 30 22 32 34 34 31 32 32 11

15 DIED 78 4 7 9 5 2 5 6 6 6 5 11 9 3

16 CHECK 416 31 43 43 35 31 20 41 20 19 43 46 40 4

18 XID 33 2 7 6 2 9 2 4 1 0 0 0 0 0

21 FOOTRIM 572 26 48 49 36 23 56 41 34 58 82 47 59 13

32 DA 42 1 4 4 5 5 5 0 3 4 4 4 2 1

35 KETOSIS 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

36 LAME 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0

37 MAST 119 8 8 12 5 9 8 9 3 6 24 12 12 3

38 METR 7 0 0 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0

39 MF 43 1 5 6 2 4 3 3 4 9 5 0 0 1

41 PNEU 6 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 0

42 RP 132 7 9 7 9 15 5 8 16 22 10 11 10 3

44 PUMP 208 0 9 37 56 23 9 25 26 5 8 3 7 0

45 DRENCH 87 0 2 36 20 7 7 8 6 0 0 1 0 0

TOTALS 18145 1177 1661 1697 1478 1388 1328 1601 1344 1526 1649 1460 1477 359

Events Table Gives Some Insight…



COWSIDE TOOLS TO MONITOR HEALTH AND METABOLICS

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Source: Journal of Dairy Science 2006; 89:1292‐1301 (DOI:10.3168/jds.S0022‐0302(06)72197‐X )



Use of Cowside Tests

• Two possible reasons to test cowside

1. Diagnose and treat individual animals

2. Determine herd level risk and incidence for disease

• Common cowside biological tests with real‐time results

– Urine pH

– Ketosis tests – blood, milk, urine

– CMT

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Subclinical Ketosis

• Subclinical ketosis affects >40% of fresh cows (Duffield, 2000)

• Cows experiencing subclinical ketosis

– 50% less likely to become pregnant on 1st service (Walsh, 2007)

– Cornell University multi‐state study >1000 cows (Ospina, 2012)• 2‐7 times increased risk of developing metabolic disease (DA, metritis, or clinical ketosis)

• 14‐18% less likely to become pregnant

• 700 to 1000 lbs less ME305 milk @ 120 DIM



Vita Plus Field Data

• 10 herds, 629 cows, 2‐15 DIM

• 130 cows out of 629 had subclinical or clinical ketosis

– ≥ 1.2 mmol/L

– 21% prevalence of ketosis

• 14 cows had clinical ketosis

– ≥ 3.0 mmol/L

– 2% prevalence of clinical ketosis

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β-hydroxybutyrate (BHBA)

• Very good measure to evaluate ketosis

– Cowside tests for urine, milk, and blood• Urine – highly sensitive, not specific (lots of false positives)

• Milk – depends on which test used, may not be sensitive, specific

• Blood – very accurate, best method & “Gold Standard”



Herd Metabolic Risk

• Test group of 12 animals 2‐15 DIM

• Repeat monthly (or more often, depending on need)

• Interpretation

– LOW RISK• less than 15% (0‐1 animals) >1.2mmol/L

– HIGH RISK• greater than 15% >1.2mmol/L

• Proceed to further evaluate transition influencers

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Example of Monitoring BHBA

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

4.0

4.5

5.0

5.5

6.0

6.5

Blood BHBA, m

mol/L

Blood BHBA

BHBA 12 per. Mov. Avg. (BHBA)



Spreadsheet to Track Results

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Additional BHBA Example



Progressive Ketosis Treatment

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Calcium Homeostasis

• Normal blood calcium: 10‐12 mg/dl

• Clinical milk fever: blood calcium <5 mg/dl

• Subclinical milk fever: blood calcium 5‐7 mg/dl– Negative effects seen at blood calcium <8.5 mg/dl

• Physical signs ABSENT during subclinical MF– “Down” cow, loss of muscle & nerve function

• Milk fever, clinical and subclinical, can start the cascade to other transition cow disorders



Subclinical Milk Fever

• A significant issue in today’s dairy herd

– 40‐50% of second and greater lactation cows undergo subclinical hypocalcemia (Reinhardt, 2011)

• 15‐25% in herds using negative DCAD pre‐fresh diets (Oetzel, 2012)

– Clinical milk fever down to 5% or less (NAHMS, 2002)

• May predispose cows to diseases, lost milk (Chapinal, 2012)

– Greater risk for DA, other metabolic issues

– Lose about 6 to 16 lbs of milk

– Reduced reproductive performance

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Subclinical Milk Fever

Reinhardt et al., 2006

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10

8

6

4

2

Cal

cium

, mg/

dl



Significant Costs to Milk Fever

• 2000 cow dairy – how much $$?

• Milk fever costs ~$350/case– 2000 x 5% cows affected = 100 cows

– 100 x $350 = $35,000 per year

• Subclinical milk fever costs ~$150/case– 2000 x 50% cows affected at some level = 1000 cows

– 1000 x $150 = $150,000 per year

STRATEGIES TO REDUCE MILK FEVER AND SUBCLINICAL MILK FEVER = SIGNIFICANT $$$$

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Kimura et al., 2006



Pre-Fresh Diet DCAD Balancing

• Acidify diet to set cow’s metabolism up for calcium mobilization after calving

• Add anions to dry/pre‐fresh diet (and avoid calcium carbonate)

– calcium sulfate, magnesium sulfate, ammonium sulfate, calcium chloride, magnesium chloride, ammonium chloride, commercial products e.g. SoyChlor, BIO‐CHLOR

• Measure urine pH to monitor blood acidification

– Over‐acidification = reduced intakes

– Inadequate acidification = clinical and subclinical milk fever

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Urine pH

• IF using DCAD diets to prevent milk fever (and you should be…)– Monitor urine pH once a week

– 10‐15 cows

– Cows should be on diet for a few days

– Goal: All cows between 6.0 and 6.5 (Jerseys on lower end)• Averages can be misleading

• Sorting can lead to variable urine pH

• Feed DCAD, don’t measure urine pH? – How do you know it is working?

Sampson et al., Veterinary Therapeutics, Vol. 10, No. 3, Fall 1999.

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TRACKING STOCKING DENSITY IN THE TRANSITION PERIOD



Stocking Density Recommendations

• Bunk space: Minimum 30 inches bunk space per cow pre‐ and post‐fresh pens– Accommodate all cows following fresh feed delivery

– Focus on bunk space rather than headlocks• Headlocks come in a variety of widths

• Nordlund – lactating cows fill 80% of available space on 24” HL

• Stalls: If 80% of bunk space, stalls should be similar or minimum of 1 stall:1 cow

• Bedded packs: 100‐120 sq. ft. per cow

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Pressure in dry cow housing, calving pens

Calving Pressure and Risk of Disorders?

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Competition Affects Behavior (Proudfoot, 2009)

• Housing cows & heifers 2:1, stalls and feeding space during the transition period– Heifers

• More time per meal before calving (hoarding the space!)

– Mature Cows• Less time at feeding space for each visit to feed

• Faster rate of intake after calving

• More time spent standing, NOT eating (waiting for access)– Excess standing time associated with lameness

– More displacements and aggressive behaviors at feeding space for both heifers and cows



Competition Affects Metabolism (Huzzey, 2012)

• Housing cows & heifers 2:1, stalls and feeding space in far‐off dry period

– Greater DMI during overstocked period…

– Heifers• Higher proportion getting displaced at bunk, slower to go to bunk after fresh feed delivery

• Higher NEFA, glucose, and cortisol metabolite concentrations

– Mature Cows• Altered insulin responses and responsiveness

– “Less dominant” cows – decreased insulin responsiveness

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Planning New Transition Facilities?

• PLAN accordingly…and then add more space

• “Traditional” approach to sizing facilities– Calculate average number of weekly calvings

– Multiply by target number of weeks in pen

– Result – pens overstocked 50% of the time!

• University of Wisconsin recommendations– Size close‐up and fresh pens for 140% of average number of calvings

– Result – pens overstocked less than 10% of the time



Cow Comfort and Social Interactions

• Don’t ignore cleanliness and comfort– Adequate stall size and adequate bedding

• Minimum 50” wide, 70” long – lunge space

• Sand preferred bedding, but any deep bed can be successful

– Heat stress abatement

• Social interactions– Separate heifers from cows, if possible

– Minimize pen moves• Introduction of new cows creates disruption and social stress

• All‐in all‐out facility planning

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More Space = More Consistent Performance

Cook, 2008 from P. Meagher, unpublished



Monitor and Measure to Track Success

• Diseases and disorders

– Consistent diagnoses and recording

• Cowside biological measurements to understand subclinical disease risk and incidence

– BHBA for subclinical & clinical ketosis

– Urine pH for calcium metabolism

• Stocking density and cow comfort

– Adequate eating & resting space solves a lot of problems

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Questions and Discussion

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