Certificate of Dairy Cattle and Farming

Unit 1 – Dairy Breeds

• Choosing a Dairy Breed
• Comparison of dairy breeds
• The Ayrshire
• The Guernsey
• The Jersey
• Holstein – Friesian
• Brown Swiss
• Milking or Dairy Shorthorn

Unit 2 – Dairy Products

• The composition of milk
• The percentage breakdown of the composition of milk
• Protein, lactose, ash
• Factors affecting the composition of milk
• The lactation cycle
• Feed
• Weather
• Stages of milking
• Incomplete milking
• Frequency of milking
• Disturbance and dipping
• Individuality of the cow
• Breed
• Course of lactation
• Gestation
• Age of the cow
• Oestrus and gestation
• Disease
• Milk -what it should contain
• Oxidation
• Lipolysis

Unit 3 – The Lactation Cycle

• Milk producing days of the cow
• The influence of the farmer on lactation
• Is every cow in my dairy herd producing to its genetic potential?
• Infertile cows
• Feeding
• The milking shed
• Planning for feed – flow
• Collecting and analysing data
• Climate
• Soil type
• Irrigation
• Aspect
• Slope and natural pastures
• Manage the feed-flow
• Planning the new feed – flow program

Unit 4 – Pests and Diseases of Dairy Cattle

• Mastitis
• Types of mastitis
• Mastitis-causing organisms
• Contagious bacteria
• Environmental mastitis organisms
• Mastitis detection – cell counts
• Mastitis control
• Effective shed or parlour routine
• Milking equipment
• Treating mastitis
• Correct treatment techniques
• Dry cow therapy
• Difficulties of treating lactating cows
• Drying off – the danger period
• The five-point control plan against mastitis
• Viral & bacterial diseases in cattle
• Signs of health in cattle
• Other signs which should be noted
• Disease types in cattle
• Viral diseases
• Bacterial diseases
• Parasitic diseases
• Protozoal diseases
• Other diseases

Unit 5 – Feeding Dairy Cattle

• Feeding the dairy cow
• Working out dairy rations
• Maintenance requirements for a dairy cow
• Production requirements
• Working out the total needs of a dairy cow
• Feeding a ration to meet the nutrient needs
• The dairy ration
• Working out the cost of dairy rations

Unit 6 – Managing Dairy Cattle

• The dairy heifer
• Managing the heifer
• Growth
• Measuring growth
• Feeding the heifer
• Factors affecting growth
• Age of breeding
• The dairy cow
• Management of the dairy cow
• Factors affecting the general health of a cow
• Records
• Factors affecting milk yield
• Breed
• Lactation curve
• Breed
• Milking frequency (age, milking’s, season)
• Heat stress
• Feeding

Unit 7 – Breeding Dairy Cattle

• Animal breeding programs
• Clear ultimate aim in any breeding program.
• Decide on your priorities
• Dual purpose animals
• Artificial selection
• When selecting by phenotype for a breeding program, the breeder must understand the following:
• Selection intensity
• The generation interval
• The heritability
• Selection for milk yield
• Gene groups
• Regression
• Selection using family groups
• Estimating the transmitting value of a bull from a family group
• Disadvantages of inbreeding
• Performance testing
• Sib testing
• Progeny testing
• Contemporary comparisons and relative breeding values (R.B.V.)
• Relative breeding value (R.B.V.)
• Artificial insemination
• The technique of artificial insemination
• Synchronised heats
• Ova transplants

Unit 8 – Managing Dairy Facilities

• Basic requirements of all dairies
• Siting of dairy premises
• The milking shed
• The dairy room and wash-up room
• Milkers’ wash room and lavatory
• Water supply
• Drainage
• Equipment
• Cooling of milk
• Machine milking
• Planning a milking machine system
• Reasons for using milking machines
• Operating convenience
• Constant milking action
• Milk quality
• Neatness
• Capital recovery for the installation
• Components of a milking machine
• The vacuum pump
• Teat cups and liners (inside the clusters)
• Claw-piece or beaker-cup
• Cluster
• Pulsator
• Vacuum controller
• Sanitary trap
• Releaser
• Pipelines
• Choosing a system
• Different types of system
• Normal cowshed
• Abreast milking shed
• Herringbone shed
• Turntable milking
• Open sided shed
• Other considerations
• Handling facilities
• Computers
• Four essential points when choosing a milking system
• Vacuum stability
• Udder stimulation
• Milk quality
• Emergency facilities

Unit 9 – Dairy Business Planning

• Economics of dairying
• Business plan example
• Variable costs per litre
• Break-even production
• When fodder is bought in
• What is a heifer calf worth at birth?
• How long a cow (that is not in calf) should be kept
• Potential returns when she calves are:
• ‎Months to wait (after insemination)