Farm Animal Welfare

Cattle Welfare and Transition Cow Management

The transition period around calving is the highest-risk welfare period for dairy cows. Metabolic disease, immune suppression, and pain make comprehensive transition management essential.

Key Facts

Transition cows are susceptible to milk fever, ketosis, displaced abomasum, and metritis
Nutritional management in the dry period significantly affects transition disease risk
Anti-inflammatory treatment at calving reduces pain and inflammation-associated disease
Monitoring body condition score through the dry period guides nutritional management
Proactive health monitoring in the first two weeks after calving reduces disease severity

Welfare Considerations

Transition period management is one of the highest-impact welfare interventions in dairy farming. Reducing metabolic disease and providing pain management at calving prevents substantial suffering for millions of cows annually.

What You Can Do

Support dairy farms with verified transition cow management programmes
Choose dairy products from certified farms with low disease incidence records
Advocate for pain management at calving to be standard veterinary practice
Learn about transition cow disease and welfare