The aim of every breeder of high-yielding dairy cows is to breed cows that will, within their lifetime, produce as much quality milk as possible and as many healthy offspring to either for breeding or for fattening. To achieve these goals the breeder should take great care of raising calves from their birth onwards as it is there that the breeding of future cows begins. An important part of this process is proper care of bred heifers and later dried-off cows. The best results are achieved with cows dried off sixty days before calving. Drying-off at a later stage considerably influences milk production in the next lactation and results in a worse colostrum quality. Cows producing less than 25 kg of milk can be dried off by applying an antibiotic in the udder and stopped with milking. Cows producing more than 25 kg of milk are dried off by reduction of concentrate two weeks before the drying off is due and by milking them once daily. During the drying-off period, the breeder can already influence the calving process and the success of the next pregnancy. If the cow is correctly dried off and fed a balanced feed ratio during dry-off period then is less probable that after the calving the cow suffers from placental retention or milk fever. Incorrect handling of the pregnant cow can lead to complications accompanying the birth or following it. If the calving is not attended to professionally and with care, both the cow and the calf can be lost. When the cow is inseminated following the calving, reproductive disorders are more likely to appear in cows that have had difficult calving and complications around calving than at cows where these problems were net present.
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