It is now common to find butyrate in commercial milk replacers and solid feeds for calves. However, the impact it has on the calf varies depending on the delivery method and the source of dietary butyrate being used. Let’s have a closer look at why butyrate is a valuable feed additive, how it can be supplemented and how its use in feeds affects calf performance.

Raising healthy calves is crucial to the success of a dairy operation, as heifers are the future of the milking herd. There are several important aspects related to pre-weaned calf management, including maternity pen management, colostrum management, nutrition and housing.

Research continues to show feeding more nutrition can help calves reach their full potential. And, while the dairy industry has moved away from the old standard of feeding calves 2 quarts of milk or milk replacer twice a day, misconceptions remain. Below are six common calf nutrition myths:

As dairy farms grow in size, the needs for youngstock change as well. What used to work may no longer fit, or a brand-new solution may not be the ideal solution after all. Three different dairy producers each had their own way of troubleshooting calf housing on growing dairy farms.

Spring and fall weather conditions often present calf raisers with the challenge of fluctuating temperatures. The rapid and ongoing transition from warm days to cold nights creates a temperature roller coaster that can increase calfhood respiratory disease rates.

Here’s the assignment: Find the lost milk. Where are you going to look? When Cornell students focused on this task, helping a New York dairy producer – one who had an exemplary calf program and whose cows should have been producing 15 pounds or more milk per day than they were – they found it. The lost milk was in the heifer barn.

With the implementation of new rules regulating the use of antibiotics important in human medicine, many livestock producers will need to implement different procedures to maintain the health and productivity of their livestock.

Perhaps you are sitting at your desk evaluating last year and thinking about the future. This past year has not been the most favorable for the dairy industry: Milk prices are down, calf prices are at their lowest in years, and employees don’t exactly come “free” these days.

Feeding calves with self-feeders or computerized auto-feeders has increased in popularity in recent years. These systems can have positive effects for on-farm management, especially around labor, but how are these systems impacting calf performance?