You were asking about…Dairy Cows

Housing: Where do Dairy Cows live?

There are a couple of basic variations in dairy cattle housing – the tie-stall or free stall setup. Size of herd and the farmer’s preferences for management and milking all play a part in housing decisions.

In a traditional tie-stall operation the cow stays in her own stall where she has ample room to stand up and lie down comfortably. Her bed is made of straw, wood shavings or synthetic mats that ensure her comfort. She has free access to water at all times and feed is available in her manger. She is kept beside her herd mates in aisles that allow the farmer to keep her clean and content while allowing her to be milked efficiently. The milk travels through a pipeline that runs through the barn to a bulk storage tank in the milk house.

Farm managers of larger herds may prefer large, open barns known as free-stall barns. Twice a day, or more, the cows will enter a milking parlour, an area designed specifically for ease and efficiency of milking, and the rest of the time they spend lounging around indoors in adjoining barns where they eat, rest and move around as they choose. Bedded stalls are provided for the cows to lie down. Barn aisles are often cement or slatted floors that allow easy clean up of manure. Cows have free choice feed and some farms use a computerized transponder tag that identifies them when they access feed.

Milk production all revolves around the reproductive cycle of the cow. Cows are usually milked for about ten months and then dried off (stop milking) for two months as they prepare for the birth of a calf. Dry cows are commonly grouped together in yards or pastures for six to eight weeks before calving (giving birth). Calves are kept in pens in the barn or in their own individual building called a hutch.

The average herd size in Ontario is 54 milking cows.

Nutrition: What Do Dairy Cows Eat?

The average dairy cow eats about 25 kg of feed every day. Her diet is scientifically formulated to keep her in good condition while maximizing her milk production. The feed may include clover and alfalfa hay, ground oats, barley, corn, and soybeans, combined with a balance of vitamin and mineral supplements. She may drink between 80 and 160 litres of water a day.

Cattle are herbivores, meaning that their diet consists of plant matter. Like sheep and goats they are also ruminants: instead of having just one stomach like humans, they have four separate stomachs that allow specialized digestion of different components of the high-fibre feed.

The whole digestive process takes a while. A cow will spend approximately six hours a day eating and approximately eight hours a day chewing its cud: regurgitating boluses of feed from the rumen (the first stomach), masticating (chewing) them, and re-swallowing them to be further digested in the next three stomach chambers called the reticulum, omasum and abomasum. This lengthy process allows them to efficiently digest low-grade fibre-based food.

Calves receive colostrum, milk that contains the mother´s antibodies, for their first three days. After that, calves are fed either cow’s milk or a milk replacer (similar to human baby formula) until they are old enough for solid food, which is slowly introduced as part of the diet to prepare the calves for weaning.

About the Life Cycle of Dairy Cows…

In order for a cow (adult female) to produce milk she has to give birth to a calf. Cows are usually bred at around 15 months of age, and after a nine-month pregnancy they will have their first calf at about 2 years of age.

Most dairy cattle today are bred using artificial insemination. The bulls (male cattle) are kept at breeding units and the semen can be shipped frozen in straws, sometimes from all around the world.

Cows will usually give birth to a single calf weighing about 40 kg. The calf will be fed individually while the cow will enter the milking herd. She will produce milk for about 10 months. She will stop milk production during a two-month “dry” period to prepare for the birth of her next calf. An average cow will produce about 27 litres of milk per day, much more than a calf could consume

The cows are milked 2 or 3 times each day. The milk will naturally contain about 3.8 to 4% butterfat content and 3.2 to 3.3% protein. Even with automated milking machines, a typical dairy farmer will be in the barn by 5 a.m. to milk the herd and again at 5 p.m., 365 days a year.

Most cows will have an average productive lifespan of four or five lactations. Some cows milk for 10 lactations or more. Female calves may be raised as replacement heifers for the herd, while the male calves are typically raised for veal.

Breeds

There are six commonly used breeds. They are Holstein, Jersey, Ayrshire, Brown Swiss, Guernsey and Milking Shorthorn. For more information about these breeds and their role in the dairy industry please visit www.milk.org/farmto/quality-cattle_breeds.html

Off to Market

Some of the milk may be used to feed young calves but the majority is stored in a refrigerated tank on the farm and picked up every other day. It is transported by truck to a dairy processing plant to be pasteurized (heat treated) and sold fresh or further processed into products such as cheese, ice cream, or yogurt. It takes 2 to 3 days for fresh milk to get from the farm to the store.

Since 1965, dairy farmers in the province have worked under a quota system that is now administered by the Dairy Farmers of Ontario. Farmers follow set production limits – their quota - that help to level out the highs and lows of typical production cycles. This system has allowed the dairy industry to prosper in the province, providing a constant, reliable supply of high-quality milk products for consumers at reasonable prices while ensuring a fair return to the farmer.

For more information about dairy farming in Ontario visit the Dairy Farmers of Ontario Web site at www.milk.org

In dairy farming, medication is only used if it is required to treat a specific illness. When dairy animals become ill, the problem is diagnosed and with the help of a veterinarian a treatment program is established. Her milk is discarded since it is illegal to sell or offer for sale any milk that contains antibiotics or other pharmaceuticals, and she is milked separately from the rest of the herd until she has complied with strict withdrawal periods for her specific medication.

In Ontario, there is a stringent dairy inspection program in place to test milk. Samples are taken at each farm for quality and composition. As well, each truckload is tested for antibiotics at the dairy. Any milk that does not pass the test is discarded immediately and any producer whose milk is found to contain antibiotics faces heavy financial penalties.

DAIRY TRIVIA - Did you know…

The Holstein (black and white) breed of dairy cows makes up 92 per cent of the dairy cattle population in Canada. Other breeds in Ontario and Canada include: Jersey (brown), which makes up 7 per cent of the dairy cattle population; Ayrshire (red and white), less than one per cent; Brown Swiss (greyish-brown), less than one per cent; Guernsey (fawn), less than one per cent; and Milking Shorthorn (reddish brown and white), less than one per cent.

A cow’s udder is divided into four chambers known as quarters.

Dairy cattle have been selectively bred for milk production and type, so their udders are larger and their bodies more streamlined than their beef cattle cousins.