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Management strategy defines the success of calf programs. Calves are challenged from birth with an immature immune system, and at the same time they are programmed to grow quickly.
A large part of managing young calves is their feeding program. It is an important first step to ensure that the milk replacer has been formulated with good-quality milk ingredients for optimal digestion and growth.
Immunity in a healthy and strong calf begins before birth.
Producers often focus on the pathogens that create disease in young calves, but the focus needs to shift to a holistic approach in building up immunity through colostrum, nutrition, the calving process, environment and management.
Some producers are good at getting calves out alive, and some are not.
Good calving technique is not something you learn in school, it is something you learn by experience – and it is always better to learn from someone else’s experience.
Colostrum management plays a vital role in a successful dairy operation and is an often overlooked opportunity where the returns will greatly outweigh the investment of time and capital.
The single-most important meal a calf will consume in its lifetime is the first feeding of colostrum. This meal is crucial for surviving both the first 24 hours and the first month, when calfhood diseases are most common.
The common dairy practice is to separate a dairy calf from its dam at birth and place it in individual housing. This helps to protect the calf from pathogens and makes it easy for the calf raiser to monitor, but it limits social contact for the animal.
According to Margit Bak Jensen of Aarhus University in Denmark, early social contact to the dam or social contact to other calves during the milk feeding period has beneficial effects on behaviour and welfare; social contact to other calves also stimulates earlier and larger intakes of solid food.
Sixty years ago, Dr. Virginia Apgar developed a simple method to evaluate the well-being of a newborn child at birth. Used worldwide, this assessment is performed within minutes of birth using nothing more than a stethoscope and a clock.
As the weather gets cooler, often with large temperature swings between night and day, calf feeding programs need to be adjusted.
Maintenance requirements must be met for growth and development; however, ensuring strong growth has been linked to improved performance (earlier breeding and increased milk yield).
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