Best Practices for Cattle and Buffalo Management

Cattle and buffaloes are the backbone of dairy and mixed farming systems across South Asia and beyond. But high productivity from these animals doesn’t happen by accident – it’s the result of deliberate, stage-specific management at every phase of an animal’s life. Whether you’re managing a pregnant cow in her final trimester, a freshly calved buffalo, or a newborn calf taking its first steps, each stage demands a distinct set of practices. This guide walks through what good care actually looks like, from pregnancy through to calf rearing.

Managing pregnant cows and buffaloes 🔗

Pregnancy is a high-demand period for any ruminant. The growing fetus places increasing nutritional and physiological pressure on the dam, and management mistakes during this time can result in abortion, weak calves, or a poor start to the next lactation.

Nutrition during pregnancy 🔗

During the last trimester, the nutritional demands on the animal rise sharply. Research on transition buffaloes shows that demand for glucose nearly triples, amino acid requirements double, and calcium needs rise fourfold in the weeks surrounding calving. Meeting these needs requires a carefully balanced ration. A standard daily diet for a pregnant cow includes approximately 3.5 kg of concentrate feed, 25-35 kg of green fodder, and around 5 kg of paddy straw. For pregnant buffaloes, an additional 1 kg of concentrate mixture is recommended as a pregnancy allowance in the final three months.

Calcium management deserves special attention. To reduce the risk of milk fever at calving, dietary calcium should be kept low – below 50 g/day – during the last two to three weeks of gestation, then increased to around 100 g/day at least two days before the expected calving date. Providing round-the-clock access to clean water is equally important – pregnant animals should receive a minimum of 75-80 litres of fresh water daily.

Housing and stress reduction 🔗

Stress is a serious threat to pregnancy outcomes. Pregnant animals must be protected from slippery floors, harsh weather, long-distance transportation, and aggressive herd mates. Four to five days before the expected calving date, the animal should be moved to a separate, clean, well-ventilated area with bedding materials such as paddy straw. Each animal should have 75-100 square feet of space to stand and lie down comfortably without competition.

For buffaloes specifically, drying off should occur about two to three months before the expected calving date. This dry period allows udder tissue to repair and the animal to rest before the demands of the next lactation begin.

Care of dry cows 🔗

The dry period – the roughly 50-60 days when a cow is not producing milk – is often underestimated in its importance. Maintaining or improving body condition during the dry period is the key to ensuring cows have adequate energy reserves for early lactation. Cows that calve in poor body condition produce less milk in the early weeks and struggle to recover.

However, overfeeding during this phase is equally problematic. Cows that are too fat at calving are prone to metabolic disorders including ketosis and displaced abomasum. The goal is to maintain – not increase – body condition through a balanced ration. Dry cows should also receive intramammary antibiotic treatment to prevent or control mastitis, along with vaccinations against salmonella and mastitis approximately 12 weeks before calving.

Managing lactating cows and buffaloes 🔗

Once an animal calves, the lactation phase begins – and it’s the most nutritionally demanding stage of all. Milk production requires enormous energy, protein, and mineral inputs that often exceed what the animal can consume immediately after calving.

Feeding the lactating animal 🔗

Following calving, a cow’s milk production rises steeply – often peaking around week seven – and then gradually declines over the rest of the lactation. During the peak, she draws on body reserves in addition to feed intake to support milk synthesis. Energy and protein requirements therefore need to be highest during early lactation and can be gradually tapered as production declines.

For lactating buffaloes, a common recommendation is 0.5 kg of concentrate mixture per litre of milk produced. Consistency in feeding schedules matters – irregular feeding disrupts rumen function and can reduce both intake and milk output. Clean, fresh water must always be available, as water intake directly affects feed intake and milk volume.

Milking management 🔗

Buffaloes are typically milked twice a day, and milk letdown in buffaloes is slower than in cattle – it is commonly stimulated by the presence of the calf. In smallholder settings, the calf is brought close to the dam before milking begins. Cleanliness of the milking area, udder hygiene, and consistency of milking time all affect both yield and milk quality. Animals can be grouped by milk yield for more efficient feeding and monitoring.

Health and vaccination 🔗

Vaccination schedules for lactating animals should include yearly immunization against rinderpest, black quarter, and anthrax, while foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) vaccinations should be administered every four months. Clean housing and good sanitation reduce the risk of mastitis, which is one of the most economically damaging diseases in dairy animals.

Caring for newborn calves 🔗

The first hours and days after birth are critical. Calves are born without circulating antibodies – the bovine placenta prevents any transfer of protective immunity from dam to fetus during gestation. This makes early colostrum feeding the single most important management act on any cattle farm.

Colostrum: timing, quality, and quantity 🔗

Colostrum management is the most important factor in determining calf health and survival, and its benefits extend well beyond the first days of life – calves with adequate passive transfer show improved growth rates and better lifetime milk production. Antibody absorption drops sharply after the first six hours of life, and by hour 12, the gut’s capacity to absorb antibodies has fallen by half. After 24 hours, the gut closes entirely to large molecules like immunoglobulins.

The three core principles of colostrum management are quantity, quality, and quickness. Michigan State University Extension recommends feeding colostrum equal to 10% of the calf’s body weight – high-quality colostrum with immunoglobulin concentrations above 50 g/L – within the first six hours of birth. For Indian breeds and buffaloes, feeding half a litre of colostrum within two hours of birth ensures early passive immunity, with the daily target being one-tenth of the calf’s body weight for the first five days.

Always attempt bottle feeding first, as this allows colostrum to reach the abomasum where antibody absorption is maximized. Tube feeding places colostrum directly into the rumen, limiting absorption. If colostrum is unavailable, a commercial colostrum replacer containing at least 100 g of IgG can be used.

Navel care and hygiene 🔗

The umbilical cord rupture at birth creates an open pathway for environmental pathogens, and navel infection rates of 1-14% are reported worldwide. Navels should be dipped with an appropriate disinfectant immediately after birth, with a second application within the first 24 hours. The navel stump should be monitored during the first two weeks of life for swelling, odor, or discharge.

Individual maternity stalls and regular removal of bedding between calvings significantly reduce the risk of calf diarrhea. Hygiene at the time of calving is non-negotiable – even high-quality colostrum cannot fully compensate for a dirty calving environment.

Housing, warmth, and early feeding 🔗

Calves born in cold weather should be warmed, dried, and provided with supplemental heat, blankets, and deep straw bedding – hypothermia can interfere with immunoglobulin absorption and set calves back from the start. After the colostrum phase, milk feeding should continue at a rate of one-tenth of body weight daily, targeting a weight gain of around 500 g per day. Milk should be fed at close to body temperature (39°C) using clean, sterilized equipment.

As the calf develops, a calf starter can be introduced to support rumen development. A good starter contains approximately 20% digestible crude protein and 70% total digestible nutrients, typically made from a mix of grains, legumes, minerals, and vitamins.

Grooming, housing, and routine health checks 🔗

Good management extends beyond nutrition and disease control. Daily grooming – brushing the coat, cleaning the hooves, and checking for external parasites – keeps animals comfortable and allows early detection of health problems. Regular body condition scoring helps farmers assess whether the feeding program is working before issues become visible in production data.

Housing should provide adequate space, ventilation, and drainage. Slippery floors are a common cause of injury in pregnant and lactating animals and should be managed with appropriate flooring or bedding. Animals should have consistent access to shade during hot weather, which is especially important for buffaloes, who are more susceptible to heat stress than cattle.

Routine deworming, hoof trimming, and scheduled vaccinations should be integrated into a herd health calendar and reviewed periodically with a veterinarian. Biosecurity – controlling the movement of animals, equipment, and people into the herd – is one of the most effective and underused disease prevention strategies available to livestock farmers.

Putting it all together 🔗

Effective cattle and buffalo management is not a single practice but a coordinated system of interventions – each building on the last. A well-fed pregnant cow produces a stronger calf. A calf that receives timely colostrum grows into a productive heifer. A lactating buffalo managed on a consistent feeding and milking schedule sustains high yields over a long lactation. With selective breeding and improved management, milk yields in buffalo herds are steadily increasing – and the foundation of that improvement lies in getting the basics right, stage by stage, animal by animal.

What do you think? Which stage of cattle or buffalo management do you find most challenging to get right on a small or medium farm – pregnancy care, colostrum management, or the dry period? And how much does the quality of record-keeping affect a farmer’s ability to manage these stages effectively?

References

1. https://www.srpublication.com/scientific-feeding-of-transition-buffalo-for-improved-production-performance/
2. https://pedigogy.com/care-and-management-of-cattle-and-buffalo-complete-guide/
3. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7149524/
4. https://www.thecattlesite.com/articles/4248/managing-cow-lactation-cycles/
5. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7150070/
6. https://afs.mgcafe.uky.edu/dairy/colostrum-management-dairy-calves
7. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7125574/
8. https://www.beefresearch.ca/blog/calf-911-colostrum-video/
9. https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/newborn-dairy-calf-care-management
10. https://www.vet.cornell.edu/animal-health-diagnostic-center/programs/nyschap/modules-documents/calf-health-module-introduction