Giving dairy calves the best possible start this autumn

Date published: 10 September 2024

Anna advises that: “To ensure a successful calf rearing season, preparation is key. Calf houses, gates, pens and hurdles should be power washed and disinfected.”

In this process, it is vital that surfaces are completely clean of any faeces as this can harbour pockets of disease. All feeding equipment, such as teat feeders, buckets and milk trolleys must be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected and ideally teats should be replaced. Minimising bacteria transfer from one season to the next is important to break the disease cycle in calf houses and ensures the calves get the best possible start to the new season.

Anna continues “Also ensure that drinkers are clean and free from debris, ideally situated outside of the calf pens to minimise contamination risk. They should be checked and drained daily to maximise water quality and encourage water intakes.” Results from the AFBI OptiHouse study indicated water quality to be a limiting factor in a number of calf houses. Access to clean fresh water is a key driver in aiding concentrate intake and resulting rumen development.

Consistency is essential in managing the calf house and one way to ensure this is to create Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). These are beneficial on farms where different people are responsible for calving/calf rearing throughout the season.

Optimising Health

Optimising calf health from birth to weaning is the first step in achieving the target age of 24 months for calving replacement heifers. Numerous research projects have proven that any set back in calf development pre-weaning can have a significant impact on the animal’s ability to achieve this 24-month target.

The AFBI OptiHouse study detailed findings of conditions within calf houses throughout Northern Ireland. The study found that ventilation and stocking density were potential limiting factors on calf health and performance alongside poor drainage. A clean, dry bed is essential and regular removal of dirty bedding material is necessary. If possible, the feed preparation/ equipment cleaning / drying area should be a moderate distance from calves, to reduce the likelihood of damp air and minimise any run-off into calf pens.

Treating sick calves can add a significant amount of time onto the daily workload during the calving season. This increased time cost coupled with the cost of treating the illness, as well as the knock-on effects on subsequent growth and lifetime production. Pneumonia, for example, has an average treatment cost of between £30-£80/head (AHDB) and the Royal Veterinary College in the UK estimate that more than 40% of calves on commercial farms will suffer from the disease.

Quality Colostrum and Feeding

Colostrum intakes are essential in the health and growth of calves. Sufficient intakes of good quality colostrum will help minimise the risk of diseases commonly found in a calf house. Colostrum quality is defined by its immunoglobulin concentration (IgG). This can be measured on-farm using a colostrometer (which should read higher than 50 g/L of IgG) or through using a brix-refractometer (which should read higher than 22%). Colostrum quality declines after 6 hours so should be harvested and fed as soon as possible. It should also be stored in a fridge, or frozen if it is not all used at the initial feed. Quantity of colostrum is important, and the rule is to feed 10% of bodyweight (40kg calf, 4 litres of colostrum). Colostrum should ideally be fed using a teat bottle (which will promote transit of the colostrum to the stomach) or a stomach-tube (which ensures that the full volume of colostrum is received by the calf).

Calf milk replacers will have feeding instructions as well as a list of ingredients and it is important that these are discussed with a vet or nutritionist to ensure the milk replacer is sufficient to meet the needs of growing calves. Invest in a set of scales and either measure each feed or use the scales to calibrate the scoops regularly to ensure the correct mixing ratio. To achieve a minimum growth of 0.8kg/day pre-weaning, calves should receive at least 900g of calf milk replacer per day.

A whole-herd health plan should be in place and should be discussed regularly with your vet. This plan will include a treatment and vaccination plan for calves and a yearly review should include discussion on disease pressures experienced in the previous year and a plan to minimise the pressure this season.

Hard but rewarding!

Anna concludes that: “Calf rearing can be a difficult but extremely rewarding task and taking time pre-calving to give calves the best possible start will pay dividends in the long run.”

Discuss calf rearing with your local CAFRE dairying adviser in advance of a busy calving season ahead.