Cows at the chiropractor

The profitability of a dairy farm hinges on the health of its entire herd. To achieve a healthy and profitable dairy, it is crucial to focus on individual cow health.

At NexGen, our goal is to optimize the lactation curve for every cow in the herd by priori-tizing the health of each individual cow. We want to ensure that the resources we invest in getting each heifer and cow into a new lactation are maximized by keeping cows healthy and productive. This is crucial to maintain culls at an appropriate level as a cow culled from the herd means an additional heifer needs to be raised to fill her spot.

Therefore, our goal is to assist individual cows in achieving their highest health and lacta-tion performance by focusing on their health through the transition period. To aid in that process, all our cows are fitted with an individual automated cow monitoring neck tag powered by Alta Cow Watch. The neck sensor reports data that aids in the early identification of potential illness as well as data to help objectively determine the outcome of any interventions that are administered.

In the pursuit of our goal, we have slowly and continually taken a deep dive into the sub-sets of cows on the dairy, looking to identify limitations to maximal health and, subsequently, production. We have found that there seems to be a subset of animals that struggle to thrive af-ter common traditional veterinary approaches are utilized. We also have a second subset of cows that are productive but report less than one hour of daily eating time. Although they appear to be doing well, we are curious as to what is stopping them from eating additional minutes each day and producing more milk.

We also come across cows that appear to be slightly slow/stiff and are identified for hoof trimming. Subsequent examination by the hoof trimmer yields no significant findings, and the cow remains unchanged. We are informed that the reason for her lameness is related to her shoul-der or hip. All these groups of cows we are discovering have a common denominator: they re-quire chiropractic care. We have started providing chiropractic care to these cows and have found the results, based on objective data from their sensors and milk weights, to be quite signif-icant.

Chiropractic therapy for cattle is not commonly performed on dairy farms. It tends to be reserved for elite beef and dairy show stock. However, the basis remains the same, regardless of the species — feline, canine, equine or bovine. The foundation of chiropractic is essentially that subluxated joints lead to a decrease in the normal range of motion. This results in de-creased nerve function and the nervous system’s ability to operate the body at optimal function.

In chiropractic manipulation, we apply a very specific, low-amplitude, high-velocity thrust into the affected joint, restoring a normal range of motion and nerve function. Through this pro-cess, the nervous system can direct and aid the body in healing itself. Recall, that the nervous system is responsible for relaying information to and from the brain, directing all things, including movement, nutrition of tissues, and ultimately, proper organ function. Therefore, by utilizing chi-ropractic therapy, we can assist our cows in not only increasing mobility but also improving the optimal functioning of their body systems, leading to improved health outcomes. 

Our statements here are not intended to suggest that chiropractic is the one-stop shop for treating all diseases and curing every cow. However, after initial traditional veterinary and hoof care modalities have been implemented, chiropractic is another tool in our toolkit that we can call upon to keep our cows comfortable, productive and in the herd.

Megan Schrupp and Ellen Stenger are sisters and co-owners of both NexGen Dairy and NexGen Market in Eden Valley, Minnesota. They can be reached at [email protected].