Protein and Energy Imbalances in Ruminants

Question 1

What factors affect dairy cow productivity?

Answer 1

Genetics
Diet
Environment
Management 
Disease

Question 2

What stimulates saliva production?

Answer 2

Chewing and ruminating - which needs fibre in the diet

Question 3

What is the ideal fibre length?

Answer 3

2-4cm

Question 4

What can interfere with cow resting?

Answer 4

Not enough time for lying (need 14hrs)
Environment design and comfort
Disturbances

Question 5

Broadly, what are the main components of a cow diet?

Answer 5

Energy, Protein, Minerals

Question 6

How much space is needed per cow for feeding?

What else needs to be assessed with regards to the feed trough?

Answer 6

60cm

Are the edges rough or sharp?

Question 7

What is DMI and how can it be estimated?

Answer 7

This is a masure of how much cows are eating.

Calculated for milking cows as roughly - 0.025BW +0.1Milk Yield

Question 8

To gain a representative sample for feed assessment what is needed?

Answer 8

Multiple samples from multiple levels of the clamp. Also need to know when sample was taken.

Question 9

Other than lab analysis, what is important when assessing feed?

Answer 9

Need to look at diet to see things like fibre length, is it palatable, are the cows eating it or are they sorting etc?

Question 10

How does secondary fermentation of silage occcur?

Answer 10

Air enters the clamp - this will also leading to heating

n.b. moulds produce mycotoxins

Question 11

What are the problems that can occur with regards to grass grazing?

Answer 11

Insufficient quality grass
Bloat from clover rich/lush pastures
Mg deficiency = grass staggers

Question 12

What is the cow comfort index?

Answer 12

85% of cows should be lying down 1 hour before feeding

Question 13

What is an ideal milk fat %age, what is it related to and what ratio of feed should not be exceeded?

Answer 13

4.2%

Fibre

60:40 concentrates:forage

Question 14

What may low bulk milk fat indicate?

Answer 14

SARA

Question 15

What is an ideal milk protein and how is this related to feeding?

Answer 15

3.4% - dependent on energy intake

Question 16

How is dung scored?

Answer 16

1-5 with 3 being an ideal slow hand clap that does not stick to boots

Question 17

What are some of the problems that may result from weight loss during the dry period?

Answer 17

Poor DMI post calving
Ketosis
Fatty Liver
fat cow syndrome
LDA
Poor milk production
Poor fertility

Question 18

What BCS should cows be dried off at?

Answer 18

3.0

Question 19

What cows should be sampled if running metabolic profiles?

Answer 19

Healthy, representative cows of the herd. Always ample 10 days after any major changes

Question 20

Which groups of cows should be sampled for metabolic profiling?

Answer 20

10-20d after calving (early lactation)

Mid lactation 100-200d post calving

Dry cows within 14 days of calving