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Research continues to show that prenatal stress can affect metabolism of the offspring. This appears to hold true for many different species of animals including cattle. One stress that consistently affects pregnant dairy cows is heat stress.
We know that heat stress can impair a cow’s reproduction and depress milk production. However, effects on calves – either before or after calving – are less well-defined.
There has been a lot written about how feeding more milk replacer will improve the immune system and health of baby calves. Several laboratories have compared feeding calves conventional milk replacers at approximately 1 pound of solids daily to higher levels of nutrition.
Higher levels of nutrition were frequently milk replacers that are approximately 28 percent protein fed at approximately 2 pounds of solids daily.
Everything in calf nutrition is debated these days. How much milk or milk replacer should be fed? Is pasteurized milk better than milk replacer?
When is the best time to wean calves? Should starters be textured or pelleted? What approved drug should be included, if any? Should hay be fed?
I recently received an email from a veterinarian in an Asian country who just started working with a large commercial dairy.
On this farm, at the time of the email, there were to be more than 500 calves born in the next three months, most of which were heifers (the farm uses sexed semen).
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?
Calf raising is a unique enterprise (some would say art). Rearing calves requires specialized knowledge, great attention to detail and a good amount of patience.
Many dairy farmers consider raising heifers to be a “necessary evil” and would prefer not to raise heifers if they could run their dairy without the calf enterprise. Indeed, the development of specialized calf raisers is a testament to the idea of success through specialization.
Like any newborn, calves need to be nurtured early so they can thrive and compete later in life. Her digestive system at birth is designed for milk. She is frequently challenged with digestive sicknesses in her first two weeks of life – followed by respiratory sicknesses in her second and third month of life.
Frequently, she is raised in naturally ventilated, unheated or uncooled housing. Often, she is moved from individual housing to large groups of 20 to 100 calves soon after weaning and she needs to be able to compete. Between birth and weaning she must transform her digestive system and nutrient metabolism almost 180 degrees to use dry feeds. This includes developing a functional rumen.
Getting calves off to a great start means paying attention to all the little details or “sweating the small stuff.” The young ones seem especially sensitive to changes in management, diet and even weather.
The results of lapses in management largely depend on the age of the calf and its surroundings. Early in life, management problems usually manifest themselves as diarrhea whereas, after weaning, respiratory problems are more typical.
The common thread that ties together management issues, pathogen exposure and incidence of disease is the animal’s immune response. Healthy, properly fed and well-managed calves maintain strong immunity; thus, when they’re exposed to a potentially disease-causing pathogen, their immune system is strong and robust.
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.
