Housing and Management in the Dry Period

Traditionally, management of cows during the dry period was minimal. Approximately 60 days before calving, milking would cease and cows were treated with long lasting antibiotic in an attempt to clear up any lingering subclinical mastitis and prevent new infections. Cows were typically removed from the milking herd, given reduced feed, and often exposed to pasture and allowed to “rest” prior to parturition. In the last 10-15 years, however, this low input approach has shifted as numerous studies suggested that aggressive nutritional management during the dry period could reduce the incidence of metabolic disease and improve the transition into lactation. Improved understanding of the roles of dietary energy density, cation-anion balance, and fat metabolism have led to new nutritional recommendations for dry cows to improve subsequent lactational performance (Drackley, 1999). Similar to nutrition, there is a growing body of evidence to suggest that appropriate management of housing during the dry period can also yield dividends in the subsequent lactation, and that is the topic of this paper.