Newly born calves depend entirely on their mother's milk as their sole source of nutrition. In the first few days, the first milk (colostrum) provides immune factors critical to the survival of the calf. After this, the calf needs whole milk or a good quality calf milk replacer (CMR) such as Ancalf™.
Restricted vs High Milk allowance
How much replacer you provide depends on the size of the calf, but traditionally the recommendation has been to feed around 10% of the calf's live weight, or roughly 4 litres per day. However, research indicates that this may not be enough and that many calves show signs of hunger and distress, compromising animal welfare. Nevertheless, this "restricted milk allowance" is often justified on the basis that it gets the calf to start eating starter and forage at an earlier age to promote growth and rumen development.
Recently, a study published in the Journal of Dairy Science1 found calves should be fed at least 20% of their live weight. The review found calves reared on a high milk allowance had a greater average daily growth rate (ADG) than those on a restricted allowance.
Importantly the higher allowance did not increase the risk of diarrhoea. This ADG was maintained at weaning when the weaning process was gradual and well-managed and there were no significant differences in rumen development or the lower digestive tract. From a cost-benefit perspective, the additional costs of CMR per calf were offset by lower starter consumption and the long-term benefits of heavier calves at weaning.
Long-term benefits of a higher milk allowance
Udder development: Calves reared on a high milk allowance tend to have more udder parenchyma (the tissue that is responsible for milk production), even several months after weaning. The more milk-producing cells there are in the udder, the higher the milk yield.
Future milk production: High ADG pre-weaning correlates with a higher future milk production2.This requires the animals to be managed well during the time between weaning and the start of lactation.
Dairy-beef production: The positive effects of a high pre-weaning milk allowance also extend to dairy-beef production. A recent study found calves reared on a high allowance reached the 460kg slaughter weight 10 to 33 days sooner than those reared on a low milk allowance3.
Animal health: A New Zealand study comparing HF-Jersey crossbred heifer calves reared on 4 or 8L/d allowance, showed antibodies against Leptospira and Clostridia were elevated at 13 weeks of age in the blood of the high-allowance group, suggesting an improved immune status. More research to ascertain potential long-term health benefits is warranted.
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1 Welk A, Otten ND and Jensen MB. 2023. Invitedreview: The effect of milk feeding practices on dairycalf behavior, health, and performance-A systematicreview. Journal of Dairy Science 106: 5853-5879.
2 Khan MA, Heiser A, Maclean PH, Leath SR,Lowe KA and Molenaar AJ. 2022. Growthperformance, antibody response, and mammarygland development in New Zealand dairyreplacement bovine heifers fed low or high amountsof unpasteurized whole milk. Journal of AnimalScience 100: 1-14.
3 Burggraaf VT, Craigie CR, Muir PD, Khan MA,thomson BC, Knol FW, Lowe KA, Taukiri KR,Staincliffe M, McDermott A, Longhurst RD andMcCoard SA. 2020. Effect of rearing diet and earlypost-weaning pasture quality on the life-time growth,meat quality, carcass traits and environmental impactof dairy-beef cattle. Livestock Science 239: e104031