Myth 1: The longer the milking time, the better
The lactation period of dairy cows is usually 305 days. However, in production, some farmers milk cows from the time they produce milk until there is no milk. This practice will make the cow consume excessive nutrition in the body, making the cow more difficult to conceive, thus affecting the improvement of the lactation amount. It is necessary to milk cows during lactation and have a certain period of dry milk so that the cows have sufficient time to supplement their physical strength and loss of nutrition.
Myth 2: The more concentrate you feed, the better
With the increase of economic benefits brought by dairy cows to farmers, many dairy farmers take more care of their cows and feed them with a large proportion of concentrate diet, which often leads cows to nutritional diseases such as metabolic diseases. Dairy cows are ruminants, and the proportion of roughage in their diets should not be less than 60%.
Myth 3: Reducing feeding in dry milk period
After calving and lactation, dairy cows suffer from loss of nutrition and need nutrition during pregnancy and embryo development, all of which require supplementary nutrition during dry milk period. Many dairy farmers believe that they should feed poorly when they are not milking and reduce their concentrate diet feeding substantially. As a result, the calves are in poor condition before parturition. It is time-consuming and laborious to produce calves, with low milk yield and weak physique of calves. In addition to reducing concentrate diet feeding properly a few days before parturition after dry milk, concentrate diet feeding during dry milk period should be 0.8%-0.9% of the weight of cows.
Myth 4: Sanitation and disinfection are not important
Dairy cows are very sensitive to the environment. If dairy farmers do not wipe the cow body for a long time, and can not guarantee the dryness, ventilation, and hygiene of the cowshed, which will affect the health of the cows or directly affect the milk production.
Myth 5: Early mating, premature calves, and early milking
Out of the psychology of early milking and early profit, many dairy farmers breed when the calf is less than 18 months old and weighs less than 250 kg, which often seriously affects the quality of pregnancy of dairy cows, easily leads to dystocia and premature aging of dairy cows. The correct mating time should be about 18 months old and weighing about 400 kg.
Myth 6: Tie-up feeding saves worry and trouble
Many dairy farmers tie their cows to their necks by rope in all seasons due to the limitation of their farms or lack of scientific knowledge. It directly restricts the movement of dairy cows and affects their physique. Tie-up feeding of pregnant cows can affect fetal growth and development, and easily cause obstetric diseases such as cow dystocia and placenta retention.
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