Replacement Management in Cattle | Health Management

Replacements are the future of the dairy industry. Focusing on improving health management of replacements will yield tremendous returns through decreased losses of animals with the greatest genetic potential on the dairy, decreased costs of medication, improved growth rates, improved feed efficiency and earlier entry into the milking herd. Health management begins before replacements are born with attention to the nutrition of lactating and dry cows, the vaccination of lactating and dry cows, control of length of the dry period and both control of the disease status of the dams and the cleanliness of the calving environment. Adequate consumption of colostrums by newborn calves is very important. Attention must be paid to biosecurity to prevent introduction of diseases into the herd and to digestive disorders such as diarrhea, internal parasites and appropriate vaccination programs for the calves. Health management of replacements is often overlooked because producers do not see the immediate returns for their efforts.