Dairy Library
Field-tested articles and guides for dairy farmers — herd health, milking, breeding, feed, waste handling, biosecurity, climate adaptation, financing, and farm design.
Health
Biosecurity zones in farm layout
How to design clean / dirty zones that staff actually follow — without slowing them down.
How to dry off a dairy cow: a step-by-step guide
The 60-day rest before calving is when udder tissue regenerates. Get it wrong and you risk mastitis at the next calving — here's the protocol that works.
Signs of mastitis in dairy cows: how to spot it early
Mastitis is the most expensive disease in dairy. Catching it in the first 24 hours can mean a 70-85% cure rate — here's exactly what to look for, in the milk, the quarter, and the cow.
Calving signs: how to know your cow is about to give birth
From the first week of bagging up to the final 30 minutes of active labor — the stages of calving, the malpresentations to watch for, and exactly when to intervene.
Mastitis vs other causes of fever in dairy cows
A cow with a fever could have mastitis — or five other things. How to tell them apart at the cow-side before you reach for antibiotics.
What is a normal temperature for a dairy cow?
The numbers that count as normal, high, and emergency — plus how to take a cow's temperature properly so the reading means something.
Signs of ketosis in fresh dairy cows
Ketosis steals milk and sets up a chain of other fresh-cow diseases. How to spot it early, test for it, and stop it before it starts.
Transition cow management: the 3 weeks before and after calving
The six weeks around calving decide a cow's whole lactation — and most fresh-cow diseases. The few things that, done right, prevent the most problems.
Calving difficulty (dystocia): when to intervene
Help too early and you tear things; help too late and you lose the calf or the cow. The stages of normal calving, the warning signs, and the timing rule that saves both.
How often should I trim my cow's hooves?
Overgrown claws cause lameness, lost milk, and poor fertility. How often to trim, when to do it in the cycle, and the warning signs that say 'now'.
Early signs of lameness in dairy cows
Catch lameness at score 1, not score 3. The subtle gait and posture changes that show up before a cow is obviously limping — and why early is everything.
How much colostrum does a newborn calf need?
The first feed decides a calf's survival and lifetime productivity. The 1-2-3 rule: quality, quantity, and timing of colostrum done right.
Calf scours: causes, treatment and prevention
Scours (diarrhoea) is the biggest killer of young calves. What causes it, how to rehydrate a sick calf, and the management that stops it happening.
Body condition scoring for dairy cows (the 1–5 scale)
A free, hands-on tool that predicts fertility, disease, and milk. How to score, the targets at each stage of lactation, and what to do when cows miss them.
Preventing milk fever (hypocalcaemia) at calving
Milk fever drops cows at calving and opens the door to a cascade of other diseases. The prevention strategies that work — and what to do when a cow goes down.
Retained placenta in cows: what to do
When the afterbirth doesn't come away, what's normal, what's risky, and why pulling it out is the wrong move. Managing retained fetal membranes the right way.
East Coast Fever in dairy cattle: signs, prevention and control
ECF is the biggest killer of dairy cattle in East Africa — especially the exotic breeds that make the most milk. How to recognise it early and keep it off your farm.
Tick control for dairy cattle in the tropics
Ticks carry the diseases that kill tropical dairy cows — ECF, anaplasmosis, babesiosis. A practical, sustainable tick-control routine that actually works.
Milking
Sizing your milking parlor: cows, turns, and shift length
The simple math that decides whether you should build a 2×8 herringbone or commit to a rotary.
Robotic milking financial model: when AMS actually pays
A line-by-line capex, opex, and labour comparison of AMS vs. parlor across three herd sizes. With breakeven sensitivities you can adapt to your own numbers.
How to lower somatic cell count (SCC) in milk
A high SCC quietly costs you money on every litre. The practical levers — milking routine, environment, and culling — that bring it down.
Why has my cow's milk suddenly dropped?
A sudden fall in one cow's yield is a symptom, not a problem in itself. The checklist that finds the cause fast — from mastitis to ketosis to a simple management slip.
Understanding the dairy lactation curve
Why milk rises, peaks, and falls over a lactation — and how reading the curve tells you whether a cow is healthy, fed right, and worth her place.
How to read a milk quality report (SCC, TBC, and more)
Your processor's milk report is a dashboard for udder health and hygiene. What each number means, the targets to hit, and what to do when one goes red.
Breeding
When should I first breed a dairy heifer?
Breed by weight, not just age. The target weights and timing that get a heifer calving at the right size — and why too early or too late both cost you.
How to detect heat (estrus) in dairy cows
Missed heats are missed pregnancies and lost money every day. The primary and secondary signs, the best times to watch, and how to time insemination.
Cow gestation length and how to calculate the calving date
How long a cow is pregnant, how breed and calf sex shift it, and the simple ways to work out a due date so you're ready for calving and dry-off.
Feed
Feed storage: bunkers, silos, and the cost of skimping
How you store forage determines feed quality every single day for the next decade. Get this wrong and nothing else helps.
How much water does a dairy cow need per day?
Water is the most under-rated nutrient in dairy — and the first limit on milk. How much cows need, what drives it, and the trough mistakes that quietly cap yield.
Feeding Napier grass to dairy cows: dos and don'ts
Napier (elephant grass) is the backbone of East African zero-grazing dairy — but fed wrong it barely maintains a cow. How to grow, cut, and supplement it for real milk.
Cutting dairy feed costs without losing milk
Feed is 60–70% of dairy running costs and the first place farmers overspend or under-feed. How to cut the cost per litre — not just the cost — without dropping the bucket.
Records
What health records should a dairy farmer keep?
The handful of records that pay for themselves — what to log, why each one matters, and how good records quietly make every other decision better.
Why does a cow's date of birth matter?
One small field unlocks half a dozen decisions — breeding timing, culling, lactation number, and more. Why date of birth is worth getting right.
New to dairy record-keeping? Start here
The first few things to set up so your dairy records start working for you from day one — without drowning in admin.
Water
Waste
Manure storage: how big and how to choose
Storage months drive everything downstream — application flexibility, odor, neighbours, and capex.
Lagoon sizing and nutrient management: storage months, application rates, and the maths regulators check
How to size manure storage to your storage-month target, calculate field-application rates that match crop uptake, and stay on the right side of nutrient regulations.
Climate
Tropical vs. temperate vs. cold: how climate flips every design decision
A barn that works in Wisconsin will kill cows in Brazil. Here's the matrix.
Heat-abatement engineering: fan and soaker sizing for any climate
How to size cooling fans, soakers, and evaporative pads with real numbers — not vendor brochure hand-waving.
Design
Cow comfort fundamentals every layout should respect
Why cubicle dimensions, lunge space, and bedding choice drive your barn's whole productivity envelope.
Sand bedding ROI: when the math actually works
A 5-year side-by-side cost comparison of sand vs. mattress vs. waterbed bedding, including hidden costs almost everyone misses.
Planning
Expansion without regret: planning for the herd you'll have in 10 years
How to choose land, utilities, and barn locations so doubling the herd later is a build, not a rebuild.
Managing a zero-grazing dairy unit
Zero-grazing lets a smallholder keep high-grade dairy cows on a small plot — if the unit is built and run right. The layout, routine, and pitfalls that decide success.
Choosing a dairy breed for tropical climates
Friesian, Ayrshire, Jersey, or a crossbred? In the tropics the highest-yielding breed isn't always the most profitable. How to match the breed to your system.
Finance
Compliance
Biosecurity
Course: Designing your first dairy
Course 1: Foundations — vision, herd size, and the business case
Chapter 1 of Designing your first dairy. Setting the vision, sizing the herd to the goal, and writing the business case that survives reality.
Course 2: Site selection — land, water, neighbours, and regulations
Chapter 2 of Designing your first dairy. The 12-point site-evaluation checklist that prevents the most expensive build mistakes.
Course 3: Housing — barn types, ventilation, and cubicle dimensions
Chapter 3 of Designing your first dairy. Choosing the right barn architecture for your climate, herd size, and operating model.
Course 4: Milking systems — parlor vs. robot, and the sizing math
Chapter 4 of Designing your first dairy. Choosing between parlor and robot, then sizing whichever you pick to your shift length and operator count.
Course 5: Feed and water systems — bunkers, silos, troughs, and automation
Chapter 5 of Designing your first dairy. Sizing feed storage, choosing between TMR and component feeding, and the water-system design that prevents intake bottlenecks.
Course 6: Build phasing and financing — schedule, cashflow, and avoiding bankruptcy
Chapter 6 of Designing your first dairy. The phased build schedule and the cashflow discipline that keeps a new dairy out of financial trouble.
Course: Feeding & rations
Feeding 1: How a cow turns feed into milk
Chapter 1 — the rumen, dry-matter intake, and why 'forage first' is the foundation of cheap, healthy milk.
Feeding 2: Forage quality is the cheapest milk
Chapter 2 — cutting stage, conserving as silage or hay, storage losses, and why testing your forage pays for itself.
Feeding 3: Body condition and feeding to the stage
Chapter 3 — the lactation curve, body-condition scoring, and why the transition cow makes or breaks the whole lactation.
Feeding 4: Building a least-cost ration from local feeds
Chapter 4 — balancing energy and protein, the Pearson square, and choosing supplements that actually pay.
Feeding 5: Water, minerals, and proving the ration pays
Chapter 5 — the cheapest input (water), the cheapest insurance (minerals), and the margin-over-feed check that proves it all works. Deliverable: your feed cost per litre.
Course: Healthy herd
Healthy herd 1: The milking routine that prevents mastitis
Chapter 1 — the eight-step routine, done the same way every cow every milking, that keeps bacteria out of the udder.
Healthy herd 2: Reading and treating mastitis
Chapter 2 — clinical vs. subclinical, the California Mastitis Test, what cell counts mean, and when to treat vs. cull.
Healthy herd 3: Hooves and mobility
Chapter 3 — lame cows eat less and breed worse. Locomotion scoring, the common lesions, trimming schedule, and footbaths.
Healthy herd 4: Biosecurity and the closed herd
Chapter 4 — most outbreaks walk in the gate. Incoming animals, quarantine, visitors, and the cheap habits that keep disease out.
Healthy herd 5: Your year-round health calendar
Chapter 5 — vaccination, deworming, parasite control and the records that turn firefighting into routine. Your deliverable: a written herd-health calendar.
Course: The dairy as a business
The dairy as a business 1: Know your cost per litre
Chapter 1 — the one number most dairy farmers can't tell you, and the only one that decides whether you're actually making money.
The dairy as a business 2: Records that actually pay
Chapter 2 — what to track, what to ignore, and how a few minutes of recording a day turns guesswork into decisions.
The dairy as a business 3: Margins and the milk price
Chapter 3 — margin over feed, seasonality, milk quality bonuses, and plugging the leaks that quietly drain profit.
The dairy as a business 4: Cashflow and financing
Chapter 4 — profit isn't cash, the dairy cash cycle, borrowing without sinking the farm, and keeping a buffer.
The dairy as a business 5: Growing without breaking
Chapter 5 — scaling herd vs. yield, reinvesting wisely, and writing the one-page business plan that ties the course together. Your deliverable: that plan.