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[Cornish Gems]

The 'dry period' is the most important time of the year for your dairy cow. This is our opportunity to prepare the cow for the next lactation and not, as we used to think in our teens, the bit between lactations. If we get it right we can have a beneficial impact on the future milk yield and fertility of our cow.

TIPS

Ensure your dry cow is separate from any other cow which might still be in milk. That way you can treat them differently as they both need different things.

Try to keep grazing or grass silage to a minimum in the ration. Otherwise cows on this kind of diet can be prone to milk fever, 'retained cleansings', metritis and the subsequent impact on fertility - all of which we do not want.

Look out for possible dry cow supplements as there are some excellent ones on the market and we as smallholders are dependent on getting as high a quality as possible as we do not have the acreage for quantity. Also, if given the right kind of diet, we can make a difference to the ease with which the cow calves. The wrong kind of diet can lead to an extended calving time.

Have at least 2 cows and calve them at different times. If you get your timings wrong and one goes dry while the other is still suckling, all is not lost. Separate Mum and Baby overnight and help yourself to some of the morning's milk before putting the pair back together again.