During the winter housing months, it is vital to remember that an inadequate pre-calving diet during the dry period can severely affect calf health.

A poor diet can affect the cow's metabolic status and body condition score (BCS), leading to poor colostrum formation, and therefore creating problems in terms of calf immunity and mortality.

Previous research has shown that the nutritional and metabolic status of one generation can impact the health status of the following generation.

This is known as the transgenerational metabolic-disease complex.

According to research by Teagasc, the uterine environment experienced by the foetus can also affect its future long-term productivity, fertility, and health.

Calf health

Formulating the ideal winter diet will be crucial, as incorrect diets can affect not only BCS and calving difficulty, but can also significantly alter colostrum quantity or quality.

This is especially true if the metabolisable energy, protein and micronutrient requirements of the dairy cow are not met during the dry period, as over-feeding energy increases colostrum volume and dilutes its quality.

To give your calves the best chance of success in their development, cows need their diets carefully managed so that they can ideally calve down at the optimum BCS of 3.25.

Over the next two months, cows will need to be monitored carefully, and split into feeding groups with adjusted diets to ensure they are calving down at the right BCS.

Cows that are too fat or too thin at calving may have difficult births, which can drive up the mortality rate before you can even start thinking about calf health.

If you can get your cows to calve down at 3.25 BCS, the calves should be healthier and faster growing, while colostrum production and quality should be sufficient to boost the calves' immunity in their early life.

On the other hand, calves that are born from nutritionally restricted dry cows have poorer immunity and subsequent health issues.

The same goes for calves who have dietary micronutrient imbalances, as iodine and calcium imbalances, for example, can result in perinatal mortality due to weak calves and uterine inertia.

At the end of the day, one of the best preparations for the calving season is to ensure that dry cows are receiving protein, energy, fat and micronutrient supplements.

This will result in improved calf immunity, lower levels of ill-health in calves, as well better growth rates.