Transition cow management in 27 spring-calving, pasture-based dairy herds in the south of Ireland

In Irish spring-calving, pasture-based dairy systems, cows are typically housed during the dry period and turned out to pasture shortly after calving, unlike many other grazing systems. This study describes transition cow management practices on a convenience sample of 27 dairy farms in the south of Ireland. Farms were visited for the completion of a questionnaire and recording of housing measurements. Participants' median herd size was 142 (interquartile range = 71 to 190) cows and mean 305-d mature equivalent milk yield was 6,683 (SD = 890) kg/cow. All farms housed dry cows in ≥2 groups, grouped primarily by calving date (67%; 18/27). Ten farms (37%; 10/27) stocked cubicles above the recommended 1 cubicle per cow, and 74% (20/27) of farms had less than the recommended 0.6 m feed space per dry cow. Most farmers had calving pens (96%; 26/27), where cows were moved before signs of calving (62%; 16/26). Cow-calf separation occurred within 24 h of birth (100%; 26/26), and cows were housed for a period postcalving (100%; 26/26). Cow-level supportive health treatments, which included mainly nutritional supplements, were provided to fresh cows (64%; 16/25); calcium boluses (69%; 11/16) given to cows above a certain parity (82%; 9/11) were the most frequently used. Fresh cow health was monitored during milking (65%; 17/26), often using milk yield as an indicator (46%; 12/26). Multiple correspondence analysis and hierarchical clustering suggested that herds above the median herd size (n = 13) and producing below the mean 305-d mature equivalent milk yield (n = 16) clustered with above the recommended cubicle stocking density and below the recommended feed space per cow. Feeding practices were highly variable across farms. In conclusion, in our study sample, there was a lack of standardization in transition cow management practices suggesting that the development of recommendations tailored to this production system may be beneficial. Further, within this cohort, adequate dry cow feeding space emerged as an area warranting greater emphasis in advisory and dissemination activities.