To run a successful dairy farm in Kenya, it’s crucial to ensure that your cows give birth to a newborn calf every year.
This keeps your lactating cows at their peak milk production. Unfortunately, many farmers are unwittingly putting their in-calf cows at risk of milk fever due to avoidable mistakes.
One common blunder is feeding in-calf cows with “chumvi ya mazima,” which is lactating mineral salts, instead of dry mineral salts.
Read:How to Increase Milk Production in Cows During Rainy Season
Feeding in-calf cows with calcium-rich mineral salts during the dry stage can lead to metabolic disorders like milk fever.
As cows approach the drying stage and calving, they naturally reduce their calcium intake.
If calcium-rich mineral salts are given at this stage, it disrupts the normal regulation of calcium and increases the risk of hypocalcemia or milk fever, causing many in-calf cows to collapse before or after calving.
To prevent this, it’s advisable to feed in-calf cows with dry mineral supplements that have low calcium content, less than 5%.
It’s important to be cautious, as some mineral salts contain as much as 24% calcium and are wrongly recommended for feeding during the dry stage.
Before using any dry mineral salt, it’s crucial to check the calcium percentage. Additionally, farmers should avoid feeding dairy meal and calcium supplements such as DCP and stock lime to in-calf cows.
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