Dry Cow Receiving and Dry Period Protocol
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Dry cows arrive every Thursday morning
at the TMF.
- On arrival, cows are housed in the group
work area in the holding pens.
- As soon as morning milking is completed,
cows are moved into the parlor, prepared for milking as usual and milked
out one last time.
- After being milked, all four teats are
cleaned with a 4x4 gauze soaked in isopropyl alcohol and then each quarter
is treated with a dry cow tube of Orbenin-DC (benzathine cloxacillin;
Fort Dodge) in each quarter. Teats are then post-dipped and udders are
flamed to remove long hair.
Meat
and milk withdrawal for Orbenin-DC is 28 days.
- After exiting the parlor, newly arrived
dry cows are sent through the chute area and are:
- weighed
- height is measured
- all ID tags are checked and missing tags are replaced.
- treated against mange / lice with 60 ml of Eprinex (eprinomectin 5mg/ml), applying
the product topically along the backline in a narrow strip extending from
the withers to the tail head. No meat or milk withdrawal needed.
- vaccinated against:
-
E. coli mastitis: J5 vaccine (Pfizer)
- Clostridial diseases: Vision 7 (Intervet) Clostridium chauvoei, septicum, novyi,
sordellii, and perfringens C and D.
- IBR / PI3: TSV2 intranasal MLV vaccine (Pfizer)
Each cow's ID is recorded on the paper
form to be entered later into DairyCOMP. Anything unusual is noted as
well, e.g. overly thin, fat, lame, etc.
Cows are moved to Pen 45.
During the dry period, each cow and pre-partum
heifer also receives:
- J5 vaccination and 5 ml MuSe at 2 weeks pre-partum
- For heifers or purchased animals with uncertain breeding dates, these injections
are given in the week when there is notable udder development.
- Once each week, animals more than 263 days carried calf are moved to the pre-fresh
pens. Heifers might move to pen 50 earlier depending on inventory
- Pen 50 for heifers
- Pen 53 for cows
Last updated: January 2006
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