It’s no secret that transition cows are some of the most vulnerable animals on a dairy. The physiological changes and stresses surrounding calving can disrupt immune function and leave cows susceptible to a variety of disorders.

Editor’s note: The following is an edited excerpt from Dr. Donald E. Sanders’ book “Raising Heifer Replacements – Doc’s Way,” published in 2012 by Vaca Resources. A wise client recently told me that if you are going to succeed in the dairy business, you must be 100 percent better than neighboring dairy farms – that is, 5 percent better in each of 20 different management skills.

Calves represent the future of every dairy herd, and delivering proper nutrients during their first critical hours of life is vital to their survival. It’s been well-documented that there are long-term benefits of feeding high-quality colostrum and feeding to a higher plane of nutrition.

A recent USDA survey reported that few custom calf raisers feed calves the large amounts of milk or milk replacer common with intensive feeding programs. Most custom calf raisers are feeding approximately one gallon per calf daily. Many want to know: Why?

I am often asked to visit a calf operation to discuss feeding programs, disease prevention, operation management and overall calf performance. On these visits, we usually start in the office or the milk mixing area and go over expectations of the visit or establish goals of the operation.

Veal calves comprise approximately 0.25 percent of total red meat production in the U.S., yet they account for nearly 25 percent of the positive tissue residue tests. Similarly, market dairy cows represent 7.7 percent of total beef production but account for more than 66 percent of total tissue residues.