Nutrition
Nutrition is a large weakness for the dairy and ties directly with the current reproduction problems going on.
The first issue is ineffective phase feeding, which is seen by the varying body condition score of cows from both pen to pen and within a pen. The scores ranged from 2.75 to 3.75. The fat cows are where the dairy is spending too much money for the ration where it's not needed, while the thin cows are where the dairy is not spending enough money for the ration where it IS needed. The ration is also not different for any group of cows as far as its make up, it is just altered on the amount being fed. This is still an issue becasue when looking at the Low Cows Production Report in PCDart, 52% of the animals that are low producing are not in the yellow group or low group. Instead, these cows are in the blues and are being fed a diet higher in concentrates, which they don't need.
The larger cows which are mostly later lactation cows are more likely to have calving difficulty and metabolic disorders when they calve in, while the thin cows are not producing to their full potential and not making the dairy as much money as they could. The thin cows are also susceptible to metabolic disorders now.
In class we calulated that the feed efficiency of the reds and blues was 1.24 and the feed efficiency of the yellows was 1.11. Both of these are below competetive herds' feed efficiency rates of 1.6 for early lactation cows and 1.4 for late lactation cows.
Variation in Body Condition Scores.
The above pictures show seepage and spoilage of silage on the face of the bunk, as well as the unevenness of the bunk face.
Testing the silage with the ball test.
After analyzing the feed with the Penn. State Shaker Box, we determined that the particle size was too large with more than 10% of the total mixed ration falling in the 1st/uppermost sieve. This poses a problem because it allows cows to sort the feed, meaning they are not getting the prepared ration in its correct proportion, ultimately decreasing feed efficiency and production.
Bunk management is also an issue for the dairy. The bunk face is not as flat as it should be and is increasing the amount of silage lost to spoilage. There is a large amount of seepage coming from the bunk. This contributes to the reason that the DM content of the ration is off, meaning that the cows are not getting all of the nutrients that they need and can therefore not produce as much milk as possible. The seepage also means that the excess water is washing nutrients out of the silage that the cows need.
The low Dry Matter content can be seen when using the "Balling" test with the silage. Upon balling the silage in your hand, it should hold its form for 5 seconds or so and then fall apart. However, when balling this silage, excess water seeped out and it held its form for a full minute before being forced apart.
Penn State Shaker Box