Improving cow health and fertility with better barn hygiene

To keep cows healthy and fertile, it’s important to pay attention to hygiene in the barn. Taking preventive hygiene measures helps lower the risk of problems such as mastitis, hoof disorders, and reduced fertility. How is hygiene related to cow health and fertility? And what can you do to keep the level of hygiene in the barn as high as possible?

Hygiene vs. fertility

In a previous article, we explained the effect of frequent feed pushing on cow health. Your feeding strategy is directly linked to risk factors such as claw disorders and mastitis. However, besides smart feeding, your hygiene protocol is another very important factor when it comes to reducing fertility problems and other disorders in cows.

Bacteria are a problem in any barn, as they can cause udder infections and hoof disorders. Cows with mastitis are often less fertile, and are at a higher risk of giving birth prematurely. For this reason, make sure that you keep minimising bacteria in places such as cubicles. After all, the fewer bacteria in the cubicles, the fewer bacteria on cows teats. This, in turn, reduces the risk of diseases. You also save money, because mastitis can easily cost you €120 per cow per year.

Ventilation

Good ventilation can improve hygiene in the barn. Ventilating keeps humidity low and allows cubicles to dry faster, which slows down the spread of pathogens.

Keep the temperature in the barn about the same as the temperature outside. On warmer days when there’s little wind, it’s a good idea to use a mechanical fan. Avoid draughts if the temperature drops below zero, as this makes cows more susceptible to problems.

Sufficient light in the barn

It’s very important that the barn is lit properly, above all to keep a good overview of the situation and assess animal health, heat, and hygiene.

Try to keep the barn illuminated for about 16 to 18 hours with a light intensity of up to 200 lux.

Don’t forget that it’s important to see colours clearly, because this will help you identify changes in the udder, for example. In addition, make sure light is distributed evenly in the barn, and that there are no dark shadows. If you create sufficient and appropriate light in the barn, you promote the feed intake, milk yields and fertility of your cows.

Nutrition and feed intake

Let’s look at nutrition and feed intake. Smarter feeding keeps the herd healthy, and improves the energy balance and fertility of your livestock. Limiting any negative energy balance is especially important in calving cows. The severity and duration of the negative energy balance have a considerable impact on the activity of ovaries and ovulation. A negative energy balance also increases the risk of uterine inflammation, a retained fetal membrane, abomasum displacement, and ketosis. These, in turn, have a negative impact on fertility and milk yields. Did you know that each case of ketosis costs about €130 per year, and clinical ketosis about €150?

So don’t wait for a cow to get sick; prevention is better than the cure. Provide sufficient energy at the beginning of lactation (preferably glycogen energy with resistant starch). In addition, pay attention to the concentrate dose when roughage intake is lower to prevent rumen acidosis. Rumen acidosis can namely cause the following:

• Lower feed intake
• Increased risk of liver infection and laminites
• Reduced milk yield

This can rapidly turn into an expensive problem. Assume about €210 per cow.

Clean and dry

As you might expect, at JOZ we always advocate ‘clean and dry’. Clean the cubicles regularly, remove dirt, dry wet patches, and keep barn floors dry in general. It’s very important to clean the barn floor regularly to prevent bacterial growth. A clean floor means cleaner hooves and udders, and a lower risk of infections.

Basically, put your manure scraper or manure robot to work regularly! These solutions­­­­­­­­ ensure better hygiene, which also improves the health of your cows.

Circular farming

JOZ’s solutions are designed around the ‘Circular Farming‘ principle, in which everything revolves around the cow. Smart decisions when it comes to hygiene, such as regular scraping or letting the manure robot do its rounds, ensure floors are kept clean and make the living environment of your livestock as comfortable as possible.

Our solutions for every type of floor make your work more efficient, and help you improve animal health and fertility. We’re happy to share our thoughts with you on how you can improve hygiene in your barn.

Would you like to find out more about cow health?

Would you like to know more about optimal cow health and fertility? And how JOZ’s solutions can help? Contact a dealer near you, or request a quote directly via this website.