Milk Fever

[Anonymous]

I started working at this dairy at the beginning of summer. They had ran out of silage so all summer the cows were on alfalfa hay. All summer we never once had a case of milk fever. But then this fall the cows went back on silage and every cow to calve since then have all had milk fever. The vet has been out and looked at the cows and has seen nothing unusual. A nutritionist tested the feed and said everything was good. But why would every cow keep having milk fever. Alfalfa hay has been known to cause milk fever, but all the cows that were on it all summer never once had a case. But these cows calving now were never on alfalfa hay. Does anyone know what could be wrong? I can tell you that the dry cows before coming in the calving barn were out on pea stubble. And the cows are brought into the calving barn a month in advance to adjust to the feed and everything else.

 

[Anonymous]

Maybe a mineral or micronutrient deficency. I know that many things change in the ensilating process, breaking down and recombining. If you have an ag university in the state you may consider contacting them, explain the problem and see if they will take it on as a study or maybe already know what the problem is.

dunmovin farms

> I started working at this dairy at
> the beginning of summer. They had
> ran out of silage so all summer
> the cows were on alfalfa hay. All
> summer we never once had a case of
> milk fever. But then this fall the
> cows went back on silage and every
> cow to calve since then have all
> had milk fever. The vet has been
> out and looked at the cows and has
> seen nothing unusual. A
> nutritionist tested the feed and
> said everything was good. But why
> would every cow keep having milk
> fever. Alfalfa hay has been known
> to cause milk fever, but all the
> cows that were on it all summer
> never once had a case. But these
> cows calving now were never on
> alfalfa hay. Does anyone know what
> could be wrong? I can tell you
> that the dry cows before coming in
> the calving barn were out on pea
> stubble. And the cows are brought
> into the calving barn a month in
> advance to adjust to the feed and
> everything else.

 

[Anonymous]

Actually yeah, I am currently going to Ag university, in 3rd year. I have talked to my profs, and everyone said to contact a vet. Well we have already done that by being in contact with a few vets now having a look at the cows and doing test. They can't find anything.

 

[Anonymous]

I discussed this with a local dairyman that feeds a lot of silage. He said he had a similar problem in the past. He feeds corn silage and what he said may only apply to that, if you feed other sialge it may not help. He found that corn silage is very low in calcium. He added additional calcium to the minerals and the prolem went a way. Interesting of nothing else

dunmovin farms

> I started working at this dairy at
> the beginning of summer. They had
> ran out of silage so all summer
> the cows were on alfalfa hay. All
> summer we never once had a case of
> milk fever. But then this fall the
> cows went back on silage and every
> cow to calve since then have all
> had milk fever. The vet has been
> out and looked at the cows and has
> seen nothing unusual. A
> nutritionist tested the feed and
> said everything was good. But why
> would every cow keep having milk
> fever. Alfalfa hay has been known
> to cause milk fever, but all the
> cows that were on it all summer
> never once had a case. But these
> cows calving now were never on
> alfalfa hay. Does anyone know what
> could be wrong? I can tell you
> that the dry cows before coming in
> the calving barn were out on pea
> stubble. And the cows are brought
> into the calving barn a month in
> advance to adjust to the feed and
> everything else.