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The Grober Young Animal Development Center opened its doors in 2009 with the mission of uncovering and presenting best rearing practices for young animals. Over the past three years, approximately 300 calves, 40 lambs and 40 kid goats have resided at our Woodstock facility for the purpose of conducting nutritional and management research.
We have partnered with others from the industry (feed companies and producers) in order to ensure the research is applicable in today’s farming community.
The transition period, from three weeks before to three weeks after calving, sets the stage for a successful lactation.
As you are preparing for the summer heat, evaluate your feed management program for transition cows.
Score your management from one to five in the following areas with a five for always to a one for never.
An old song reverberates the line “when you’re hot, you’re hot,” and this idea applies to livestock. Our group has shown that the temperature in the calf nursery impacts the average daily gain.
One of our current research goals is to better understand how and why the environment is influencing growth. We have the ability to automatically measure the temperature of calves every 10 minutes for multiple days, then analyze the information gained.
This article was #14 of the Top 25 most well-read articles on www.progressivedairy.com in 2012. to jump to the article. It was published in the January 23, 2012 Extra. Click here for the full list of the Top 25.
Early this year, we asked Jim Quigley, now with Provimi North America, to provide an update to a 2011 article he authored, “What’s new in colostrum research?” In the 2012 update, Quigley discussed several research studies on the long-term effects of colostrum, measuring colostrum quality and bacteria contamination in colostrum.
This article was #25 of the Top 25 most well-read articles on www.progressivedairy.com in 2012. to jump to the article. It was published in the January 23, 2012 Extra. Click here for the full list of the Top 25.
ImmuCell’s calf specialist Bobbi Brockmann listed the top reasons why immediate immunity is important. Brockmann wrote, “Studies show that calves with inadequate serum IgG concentrations at 24 hours old are 3.2 to 9.5 times more likely to become sick and 5.4 times more likely to die before weaning.”
Because this article was so popular, we asked Brockmann:
As group calf feeding becomes more prominent in the U.S., dairy producers and calf raisers are looking for a selection of systems to choose from.
A few companies have introduced computerized or robotic feeders, while some farmers have taken it upon themselves to build a low-cost structure.
Advanced Dairy Systems has developed a warm box system that is less technical than a robot and turn-key ready for those not wanting to tackle a project like this on their own.
Well adopted in Canada, these boxes first debuted in the U.S. three years ago and are in place on a handful of dairies in Wisconsin, New York and Vermont.
This article was #10 of the Top 25 most well-read articles on www.progressivedairy.com in 2012. to jump to the article. It was published in the January 20, 2012 Extra. Click here for the full list of the Top 25.
Another popular video featuring Dr. Sheila McGuirk focuses on the proper use of an esophageal feeder. Here McGuirk discusses tips for this method of feeding and shows how to pass the feeder through the calf’s esophagus.
Understanding the basic concepts of growth helps improve calf and heifer management.
Early postnatal growth is the most efficient time to develop skeletal growth, muscle growth, deposit protein and attain the highest feed efficiency.
Mammary development can be enhanced by liquid (milk) feed intake prior to weaning. Calf raisers are advised to assess and adapt their feeding practices to ensure adequate growth while maximizing economic benefits.
High-performing CIP systems are important for the health and well-being of everyone who consumes milk, even the first customer in line for a serving – the dairy calf.
At least that’s what one calf ranch operator from Texas learned recently. Calves were becoming increasingly ill with no explanation. All the usual suspects were checked: housing, bedding, feeding and health protocols. This rancher was running out of leads.
The most costly area of management on a dairy farm after feeding is raising or purchasing replacements. Beginning with the newborn calf, all the way to the freshening first-calf heifer, having replacements ready to enter the herd is a necessary part of the dairy’s herd cycle, and they represent the future of the dairy’s profit potential.
It’s been well documented that replacement heifers that enter the herd between 22 and 24 months old can optimize profitable milk production. Other studies have shown that a baby calf that can double its birthweight by 60 days old will be much more productive over its lifetime.
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