How to properly prepare a cow for winter start-up
Keeping cows and bulls is not without difficulties for the farmer, but it is considered a rather profitable occupation that brings a stable income. Running a cow before calving in winter or summer is a matter of particular importance in farming. How to run a cow correctly and not miss an important moment in estrus is information that will be useful to every farmer and will not be superfluous for a beginner.
How to properly run a cow before calving
Keeping cattle
Before breeding cattle, a person should think about how to provide animals with everything they need, how to run the cow before calving and not harm the heifer. These questions will arise on their own, but it is better to be prepared for them. Starting a cow is a very crucial moment, especially for a young animal. The period of readiness for fertilization lasts only a few days, after which the heifer no longer makes contact with the bull.
Cows are launched once or twice a year, depending on the farmer's ability. Proper care, feeding at home and a timely breeding process are the key to the work of the entire farm. Until a person organizes his own work with animals, launching cows and keeping them will be a real torture for a person.
Workover start time
When is the right moment to launch the heifer? Hunting in cattle does not occur immediately, it is preceded by changes in the behavior and perception of other animal heifers or gobies. From time to time, heifers become aggressive due to illness or poor nutrition (unbalanced feeding). In such cases, the change in behavior is due to external, rather than internal factors. How many months and how to feed the cattle before giving birth?
A prudent farmer draws up special tables of animal feeding, thanks to which all hormonal changes in the body of the heifer pass without any particular complications. Summer is considered the most suitable time for offspring. During this period, livestock have access to green fodder, which contains vitamins and nutrients necessary for pregnancy. If it is early for a heifer to enter into a relationship with a bull, then it will be more difficult for a person to find out about this. The same age of heifers does not guarantee that they are equally mature. The pattern and time of offspring are purely individual. To determine readiness, folk and scientific methods are used. How to properly start a cow before calving?
Launching cows to hunt
To start the cow before calving, the farmer should create special conditions. This process involves a change in the lifestyle of animals. What is it for? A healthy offspring, which will soon appear, needs human feeding and care. To do this, the farmer increases the lactation of the heifer in advance and stops expressing the milk of the animal before the offspring appears.It depends on the correct actions of a person how healthy the cattle will be before calving, and the time for starting a cow will be significantly reduced.
It is not difficult to preserve the offspring and the female if the feed of the heifer is diluted with special strengthening vitamins (cattle) and useful additives even during the launch. Calm and caring will help the heifer to give birth without problems. During the gestation period and the first time (the first few months), the cow should remain warm and have access to clean water, green and dry food. How long should a farmer prepare for the appearance of offspring in cattle? Reducing milk is only the initial stage of preparation.
Expressing milk before calving
A few months before calving, milk production stops completely. The female does not give milk, does not walk with the whole herd. The heifer should spend most of the time in a secluded place. There is a need to limit the heifer to 77 days. In young females, milk intake stops even earlier, the period of milk accumulation should last up to 80-90 days. Milk (several liters) absorbs all the nutrients that will be used to feed the offspring.
During this entire period, when the heifer must prepare for the birth of offspring, the farmer gives her as much grass and all kinds of environmentally friendly additives as possible. Milking a cow is allowed only in cases when the heifer has nowhere to put milk and she is suffering. Milking relieves the discomfort of an animal ready to produce offspring. Udder size is a conventional indicator for the farmer. It is necessary to express milk surplus quite often.
When starting a cow before calving, you should focus on the well-being of the heifer. The appearance and behavior of the female will speak for themselves. How to properly start a cow for a novice farmer?
Preparation before calving
Starting a cow just before calving is not as easy as it might seem. The cow needs special care and attention from the farmer during start-up. The first day of lactation of a heifer is dead wood. The heifer on this day is very vulnerable and not protected. Before calving, you must:
- stop expressing milk from the cow;
- gradually reduce the amount of food (the heifer must prepare to feed the offspring);
- reduce the amount of water (before calving);
- reduce the proportion of green fodder.
The cow should be housed in a separate stall before calving.
It is not recommended to give hay to animals; it is better to replace it with low-calorie straw. The female does not particularly like such food, but it is necessary to use straw through I can’t. It is impossible to add green food directly on the last day before calving: such an additive can harm both the animal and the offspring. The necessary animal regime is established and carried out without question.
Milk is expressed gradually from 3 times a day to 1. If the calving calendar is calculated for the whole year, then it is much more difficult to start a cow in winter. On the fifth day, it is impossible to drive a cow for milking, because it is not given (the production of dairy products ends). You can start a cow from the period when lactation ends. How to organize the launch correctly? Correct start-up in cows is atypical, milk may continue to be collected. In such cases, the milking process declines more slowly compared to the experienced females. Together with the milk yield, the amount of water and green food decreases. Gradual actions lead to the desired results - milk will stop collecting.
When the time comes to feed the offspring, all functions in the body of the heifer will be restored. A short deadwood will prevent the cow from starting. It will also not be possible to launch a highly productive cow without gradual preparation. Whatever age the female is, she will not come to calving on her own. Cows start normally if they are provided with all the necessary conditions.
Mandatory measures before calving
In the warm season (summer, late spring), the female's walking is reduced to 4 hours.A few days before calving, it is impossible to walk the cow under any circumstances. Starting without isolating the animal is impossible. To speed up natural processes, the cow is placed separately from the entire herd in a room where she can stay in a calm mood. The new environment contributes to the rapid return of the cow to normalcy. In such an environment, the female will be able to prepare for the birth of the offspring. It is not worth injuring the animal with abrupt changes - all actions should be gradual, not causing fear or aggression in the heifer.
Udder health is monitored by the farmer throughout the calving period. Running cows is a special relationship to the heifer, without which the entire farm will not prosper. Improper handling of animals will lead to inflammatory processes in the internal organs. The cow will have to be treated for months, and you will have to forget about the offspring. A sudden start will harm the animal's reproductive system.
Mastitis is a frequent consequence of neglect of the female, which was launched off the calendar or with gross omissions on the part of the farmer. Udder hardening is a warning sign. You will not be able to manage on your own with such symptoms, so it is best to call an experienced veterinarian.
How to properly care for animals?
At start-up (systematic start-up of cows), animal feeding requires special attention from the human side. Launching a female without proper maintenance is impossible. The cow should be protected from all potential hazards and contact with other animals. An inexperienced novice farmer can also properly equip a heifer. The main credo of such a person is that I can do anything, even if it takes a little more time and effort. Heifers should be fed only with high-quality feed, regardless of how much food the cow needs. Periodic examination by a veterinarian will also not be superfluous. It will be a problem if the cow does not start for a long time.
It is always difficult to prepare animals for calving, but without this natural process, it will not be possible to sustain the farm. Preparation is half the battle, followed by long periods of caring for the female and baby calf. Caring for the offspring and the cow will not hurt.
The farmer should not neglect the organization of launching the cow before calving, otherwise it is his farm that will be at a loss, and the affected cattle will not bring healthy, tenacious and full-fledged offspring for many months. The choice remains with the person, what he is ready to do for the sake of the prosperity of his own business.