Dry Cow Minerals: Avoiding the Common Mistakes

Aisling Claffey, Teagasc ruminant nutrition specialist, joins Stuart Childs on the Dairy Edge podcast to discuss the importance of dry cow minerals to the success of your calving season.

Aisling explains that magnesium is key. Pre-calving minerals need to supply enough magnesium to support the cow’s ability to mobilise calcium around calving. She also highlights the importance of vitamins, particularly vitamin D and the role it has for milk fever prevention also.

Consistency is vital with minerals. Missing minerals for a day or two can matter, especially when many cows are close to calving. As people are getting better at their soil fertility, Aisling believes people should test silage for minerals annually as silage potassium can vary from year to year and as this may interfere with magnesium absorption, farmers need to be aware of the feed that they are feeding.

Milk fever can have wider consequences. Low calcium can affect muscle function, calving and rumen contractions, and intake. It is known as a gateway disease with transition-cow problems as well as mastitis all likely to follow so prevention is important and key to this is a good mineral fed consistently.

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