Managing calves during cold weather! It’s cold outside! What have you done to take care of your calves during cold weather? This blog will start with a general discussion regardless of the system used and then conclude with a few tips on using the features of autofeeders to better address winter conditions. The biggest thing […]
Weaning calves successfully! Feeding and managing preweaned calves is expensive on a per day basis. Fortunately, it’s a relatively short time in the life of the calf and a minor percentage of total rearing expenses. Traditionally, the goal for preweaned calf management has been to encourage rumen development and early weaning to reduce these expenses […]
Water is important! Often we pay attention to small details in our feeding management of calves and overlook “simple” things of great importance! This is the case with water, regardless of whether you manage calves in individual pens or group housing. The fundamental recommendation is simple. Provide plenty of fresh, clean water at all times […]
Keep it clean!! Our discussions pertaining to calf management frequently focus on nutrition, milk or milk replacer, colostrum, vaccinations, feed additives……. Rarely do we consider the impact of hygiene on our success in raising calves. For this post, let’s consider the impact of hygiene on calf health and growth. Calving environment – While in utero […]
When is the best time to introduce calves to the autofeeder? There are two views to consider when making this decision. Traditionally it’s been highly recommended to keep calves housed individually for health reasons. Typically, calves have some mild scours sometime during the first 10 days of life, likely due to delays in development of […]
What have “autofeeders” taught me about feeding dairy calves? Most of us that have fed calves have a similar impression of “what’s normal” for feeding calves and calf behavior. What was “normal”? We fed them twice a day. We fed two quarts (liters) per feeding. We did this because milk or milk replacer was expensive […]
Calf immunity #3 – Optimizing absorption and achieving the benefits of colostrum *Post contributed by Julia Hamann, D.V.M., Field Technical Specialist Diamond V This is the last of the three-part series by Dr. Hamann. Check out the first two blog posts if you haven’t done so already! Calf immunity #1 – The three components of […]
Calf immunity #2 – Colostrum and the calf’s gastrointestinal development *Post contributed by Julia Hamann, D.V.M., Field Technical Specialist Diamond V This is the second of the three-part series by Dr. Hamann. Check out the first blog post if you haven’t done so already! Colostrum plays a significant role in the calf’ intestinal development and […]
*Post contributed by Dr. Bob James and Jan Ziemerink When the farm has an excellent program for maternity, newborn care and colostrum management the earlier the better! The most important consideration is to place the calf on the autofeeder when it has a vigorous appetite. These calves adapt well to this transition and are easy to train. […]
Calf management strategies are continuously evolving as market conditions and social pressures evolve. In this post, we compare a few different options and highlight which practices are fundamental to raising the best calf, while being mindful of future changes on the horizon, so you can plan for long-term success.
