Other cases of loose manure are far more serious and their actual causes seem to be harder to pinpoint. Manure may be loose during periods of stress. Seeing loose feces or diarrhea may indicate excessive protein intake or high levels of rumen degradable protein. Dehydration results in firm balls of manure. Restricted water or protein produces firmer feces. Feed type, the nutrient and fibre content, water quality and intake and passage rate all have an impact on the final product. What you see in the manure output, should be porridge-like and produce the dome-shaped 1 or 2 inch thick ‘plop’ that is the sign of healthy digestion. Knowing the digestion status of the working cows is an important tool for making management decisions. Check Consistency First!įeed drives production. It is important to determine what is causing the difference. The expectation is that less than five per cent will stand out as significantly different from the general herd. In a 200-cow dairy, a walk-through that checks the manure of 15 to 20 cows should be able to provide enough observations to draw conclusions. If the cows share the same diet, their manure should share similar characteristics. The Three C’s: Consistency, Color and Content No special equipment is required to make a speedy determination of the color, consistency and content of the manure being passed by a group of dairy cows. A daily barn or pasture walk with boots that don`t hesitate to poke into manure piles behind the cattle, can be a valuable signal of what`s happening with herd health and nutrition. Awareness is one of the best tools dairy managers can make use of.
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