The transition period — from 3 weeks before to 3 weeks after calving — is the most welfare-critical phase of a dairy cow's production cycle, with disease risk and metabolic stress peaking simultaneously.
Transition period welfare is the most important single management challenge in dairy farming. The convergence of parturition stress, hormonal changes, immune suppression, and metabolic demands makes freshly calved cows highly vulnerable. Ketosis alone affects 40-60% of cows in some herds, causing decreased appetite, weight loss, and susceptibility to other diseases. Milk fever causes muscular weakness and recumbency, exposing cows to injury. Well-managed transition programs — appropriate dry cow nutrition, clean calving areas, immediate post-calving monitoring, and proactive anti-inflammatory use — dramatically reduce disease incidence and suffering. Welfare-focused transition management is also economically rational: sick cows produce less milk and incur higher veterinary costs.