The transition period - the three weeks before and after calving - is the most welfare-critical time in a dairy cow's production cycle, when metabolic diseases cluster and long-term health outcomes are determined.
The transition period represents the convergence of multiple welfare risks: the physical stress of calving, the metabolic challenge of milk production onset, and the immunosuppression that accompanies the periparturient period. Cows suffering from transition diseases - ketosis, hypocalcaemia, metritis - experience significant pain and systemic illness that impairs their wellbeing for weeks. Proactive transition management through nutritional preparation, close monitoring, and rapid intervention for emerging disease substantially reduces the welfare burden of this critical period and improves long-term health outcomes.