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Calves & Heifers
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7 tips for designing the right calf barn

Just like cow barns, calf barn design matters. Ventilation, space, layout and cleanliness are all key to successfully raising calves in a barn.
February 1, 2023
Bradley Biehl

Abundant information and opinions are available on design for cow barns; but there’s much less information available for designing calf barns – especially calf barns with group housing and automatic feeders.


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Meeting dairy welfare standards: Good for your animals and good for the dairy aisle

Thorough written protocols and implementing best animal care practices are important to improving farm management. Not only can this elevate animal care, it can also ensure farm staff know how to handle important situations.
January 25, 2023
Daniela Roland

Dairy farming can be unpredictable, and even with the best management, accidents can happen. For example, a cow may slip exiting the parlor and go down. This could happen even on the best employee’s watch and while following all correct protocols. Does the employee know who to notify if this happens or how to safely move the animal?


It’s how you manage scenarios like this that is critical to not only the animal but to maintaining the dairy consumer’s trust.


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Setting calves up for a long-term, successful immune system

Setting up a calf’s immune system from the beginning impacts both her short-term and long-term health. This includes vaccinating dry cows, ensuring passive transfer and developing vaccination and immunostimulant protocols that align with the farm’s heifer-raising goals.
January 24, 2023
Elena Montemagni

Managing dairy calves is truly an art form. The first few weeks of a calf’s life are imperative to how productive that calf will be as an adult, from increased milk during its first lactation to achieving its full genetic potential. This is especially important for replacement heifer calves. As breeding decisions are carefully made and only the best cows are bred for replacement heifers, it is key to ensure those calves are as healthy as can be during the first weeks of life. These first few weeks of life largely shape that future cow's career and your profitability. 


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Choosing the best employees to work with calves: It’s not for everyone

Not all employees, even good ones, are right for the calf program. Carefully evaluate new employees and current ones to see if they’re the right fit and possess the skillset needed for proper calf care.
January 17, 2023
Michelle Philibeck

Raising calves isn’t easy. Good calf raisers need a solid understanding of best calf protocols, treatment and diseases or be willing and able to learn. You know that the job requires a certain skillset and nurturing touch that not many possess.


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Leave the needle in the haystack: Rehydrate with an oral electrolyte

Scours causes 60% of pre-weaned calf deaths. Knowing how to correctly rehydrate a dehydrated calf and which product is necessary in each situation is essential to minimizing calf mortality.
January 11, 2023
Nathan Upah

There are many clichés to represent the need for the right tool to do the job. Perhaps the best one that both relates to the subject at hand, as well as in a practical application, is “don’t bring a water pistol to fight a fire.” Oral rehydration electrolyte solutions (ORES) have garnered a reputation as being the water pistol in the fight to correct dehydration.


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Calf gut health and IgY antibodies

While IgGs might be the star of the show in colostrum, supplementing with IgYs could aid in lining the gut, adding an extra layer of defense through the first weeks of a calf’s life.
January 9, 2023
Roger L. Saltman and Shawn Jones

When we look at calf health statistics for the U.S. dairy industry, it’s clear we have room for improvement. Data from the USDA’s National Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS) has calculated the national morbidity rate for female dairy calves at 34% and mortality at 5%, with digestive disease or scours as the leading cause of both sickness and death.


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Supporting a dairy calf’s microbiome for a strong immune system

Early life management affects a calf’s health and productivity not only short term but throughout its entire life. To help ensure success, farms should focus on nutrition, microbiome, immunity and gut integrity.
January 6, 2023
Jill Soderstrom

Calf nutrition and care are paramount to the future success of a dairy operation. However, we often take a straightforward approach – only for growth and development – but do not realize the larger impact it can have on the calves' genetic potential and their ability to be optimal calves that will later become productive milk cows.


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Getting calves to drink water is a yearlong pursuit

A calf’s body is 70% water, and water intake is closely tied to rumen development and starter intake. To encourage intake, producers should provide clean water frequently. Providing warm water or water with electrolytes in a bottle may also encourage additional intake.
December 29, 2022
Tana Dennis

Calf hydration isn’t just for hot weather. A year-round plan for feeding water and electrolytes can help calves stay healthy and productive through all seasons and temperatures. Water is key to hydration and for calves, has major effects on starter intake, rumen development and overall health.


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Colostrum for calves with diarrhea? Exploring the potential of colostrum as an additional therapy

Calves with diarrhea could benefit from colostrum supplementation. Recent research shows that eight feedings over four days could reduce the disease to 2.75 days.
December 27, 2022
David Renaud and Michael A. Steele

There is no doubting that colostrum management is essential in early life to achieve transfer of passive immunity. In fact, if calves achieve passive immunity, they will have a lower risk of developing diarrhea.


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Set up for success: 7 tips for getting the most out of your autofeeder

Automatic calf feeders certainly have many pros, but they are still a tool that must be managed properly to be effective. Managing calves correctly, maintaining the machines and feeding them appropriately are key to success.
December 19, 2022
Bradley Biehl

An automatic calf feeder is a great tool for many calf programs. As with any piece of equipment, management is a key contributor to the success or failure of your autofeeder. There are several common areas that are overlooked within many calf feeder programs.


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