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Making good use of data to optimise Transition Cow Management (TCM)

Ketosis is the most common metabolic disease of dairy cattle in the first 6-8 weeks of lactation. Vetoquinol’s Farm Animal Business Manager, Nicole Baldry, discusses how accurate monitoring of the cow in transition allows vets and producers to gain a deeper understanding of their herd and make data driven decisions.

Ketosis increases the risk of other diseases and impairs production and fertility. Accurate monitoring of the cow in transition (1 month pre- and 2 months post-calving) allows good understanding of the animal, the herd and so to make data driven decisions to reduce health issues and maximise productivity.

“Traditional approaches to transition cow management often rely on subjective observations and estimations,” states Nicole. Today’s technology allows for much more informed decisions to be made by harnessing advanced analytics and real-time data collection during this critical period, providing actionable insights and recommendations.

“The more data insights we have to manage the transition period as best we can, the better,” says Nicole. “That is relevant to all diseases affecting the transition period and early lactation (such as mastitis and endometritis), as we know calving causes a dip in the cow’s immune function.

VetIMPRESS allow vets to record, and analyse this useful data in multiple ways and all in one place. Working proactively allows vets and producers to understand the relative ketosis risk levels by capturing the data that identifies the high risk or “SOFT” cows:

  • Sick: any animals sick in their dry period, or being lame
  • Old: in lactation 3 & above
  • Fat: animals with Body Condition Score (BCS) ≥3.5
  • Twin bearing animals


With smart technology in place, vets and producers can record and access data that supports the prevention of ketosis. Vets can look at BCS to identify those cows that are particularly at risk, BCS ≥3.5 or incredibly thin animals,” says Nicole. “They can also identify any animals that have been recently lame via mobility scoring and foot trimming reports – these animals may struggle to get to the feed face and take in enough dry matter to fully support them and their pregnancy.”

“Further information such as fertility data (i.e. twin-bearing), ketone sampling results, and lactation history, along with any lab reports relating to transition cow management can provide a detailed picture of the cow’s health. Looking at these trends over time builds a complete view.” adds Nicole.

Enabling a proactive approach

Data insights help vets and producers make more informed decisions about how they can best support high-risk animals as well as enabling them to take a proactive rather than reactive approach.

“You’re not going to prevent every cow from being too fat or too thin, or from getting lame, or having twins. So, the focus is on using the data you have captured to enrich your decision-making. Instead of firefighting diseases like ketosis and endometritis, you can put steps in place to prevent them,” explains Nicole.

“With VetIMPRESS, lists of animals at high risk of ketosis are auto-generated, based on data collected, for the vet to check,” explains Nicole. “This list can be sent to the producer ahead of a visit, ensuring better communication and collaboration between all stakeholders, and maximising the productivity and efficiency of the vet’s routine visit.”

Having access to a comprehensive report which highlights key performance indicators, identifies potential risks, and suggests tailored interventions, empowers producers to proactively address challenges before they escalate. “This allows producers to work alongside their vet to identify the best ways to prevent problems, rather than letting them rumble on, and trying to deal with them when they happen post-calving,” says Nicole. “The reactive approach is going to have a huge knock-on impact on the cow in her next lactation. If the transition period isn’t smooth, she is going to come into her peak yield later, she is not going to get in calf as quickly, and as her immune system is weakened, she will be more susceptible to picking up infectious diseases such as mastitis.”

As well as helping vets and producers make more effective decisions, having accurate data, in a centralised location, enables better collaboration between everyone working on the farm.

“The reports which VetIMPRESS can generate are clear and easy to understand, and they can be emailed straight away to producers, vets, and anyone else working with the farm . This means everyone is informed about what is happening on farm. Getting everyone working together and good communication leads to better outcomes,” says Nicole.

Harnessing data for more sustainable farms

Harnessing data and working in a collaborative and preventative way also helps producers run more sustainable farm businesses.

“Producers have so much data and information available to them now, it’s just about working out how they use it as efficiently so they can try to optimise their transition cow management,” says Nicole. “if they work in a preventative way, they will have not only healthier, more productive cattle, but they will be more sustainable in that they will waste less milk, reduce medicine use, and increase the longevity of their cows.”

The average dairy farm in the UK with an average level of mastitis loses over £15,000 per year through lost milk and medicines1. At a time when costs are spiralling and milk prices haven’t been good, there is more of a need than ever to focus on efficiency and sustainability, as well as cow health and welfare” says Nicole.

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