The transition period around calving is the most welfare-critical phase of the dairy cow production cycle, with metabolic diseases, immune suppression, and pain peaking in the weeks before and after birth.
The transition period represents a perfect storm of welfare challenges. The cow is physiologically redirecting enormous metabolic resources to colostrum and milk production at the same moment that immune function is naturally depressed, creating vulnerability to multiple simultaneous diseases. Metabolic diseases like ketosis and milk fever cause depression, weakness, and reduced pain tolerance that compound other conditions. A cow that develops mastitis, metritis, and ketosis simultaneously in the same week experiences suffering across multiple body systems. Preventive transition cow management through nutrition, body condition monitoring, and early detection programs is the most effective welfare intervention in the dairy sector.