How to reduce the risk of LDAs at turnout
Published on: Apr 15, 2021
We are spending lots of our time correcting LDAs at the moment. When my patients behave themselves, you can see from the smile on my face I really enjoy correcting these with our laparoscope. However, LDAs are not good news for our clients or cows! I write this in late March and most herds are still housed, this will soon change, and I thought it could be useful to think about how we can prevent further LDAs at turnout as it is around this time that we see the most LDAs in the practice.
My tips for preventing turnout associated LDAs are:
- Keep your freshly calved cows housed if you can. Cows in early lactation that do not have good rumen fill will be prone to a displaced abomasum; spring grass is low in fibre and has a high moisture content. It is not the ideal feedstuff for freshly calved animals that have a reduced dry matter intake after calving.
- Ensure you are providing enough of the right buffer feed. Spring grass is high in protein, you want your cows to be able to utilise this protein so buffer feed should be high in energy. Spring grass will also contain a lot of sugar and will pass through the guts very rapidly (you will know this from being in the parlour)! Buffer feed should be high in fibre, maize and straw make an ideal buffer ration.
- Don’t let your cows run out of grazing or buffer feed! If your cows are out all day ensure there is enough grass to last them until milking, if they are just going out for a few hours to nibble off the sward and stretch their legs then they will need plenty of buffer feed and feed space when they come in.
- As for your dry cows, continue to ensure these have plenty of feed space and fibre to maximise intakes pre calving.
Author
Anna Hares
Learn how to prevent left displaced abomasums (LDAs) in dairy cows during turnout. Discover the importance of proper feeding, housing, and management practices to ensure a smooth transition and minimize the risk of this costly condition.
#LDA #LeftDisplacedAbomasum #DairyCows #Turnout #Prevention #RumenFill #BufferFeed #Fiber #Grass #CowManagement #AnimalHealth
