Dozens of farmers took a break from calving preparations last month to participate in the Farm Source webinar: “Best Practice Calf Rearing Live Q&A”.
Rural broadcaster and Managing Director of CountryWide Media Sarah Perriam-Lampp led a panel of experts including Fonterra Dairy Beef Development Manager Professor Rebecca Hickson, Fonterra Veterinary Programme Manager Mike Shallcrass, and NZAgbiz National Sales Manager Carla Rawson.
The session was a chance for farmers to ask questions about hygiene and biosecurity, transitioning slowly into the shed and into the paddock post-weaning, and setting up dairy beef calves.
Some of the questions asked included:
Is sanitising equipment and sheds adequate or do farmers need to do more?
Mike: It is essential to clean equipment, particularly your calf feeder, properly with detergent and warm water prior to sanitising. If something has dirt or effluent on it, sanitising will not cut it, farmers need to clean first then sanitise or risk infection.
Rebecca: Your opportunity to get things right to begin with is a heck of a lot easier than fixing it up when you have a shed full of new calves all becoming sick.
How important is colostrum?
Carla: Cows are a unique mammal in that they don’t pass on immunity factors to their offspring in utero. Colostrum is the only way to pass on protective immunity post-birth.
Mike: Colostrum should be treated with reverence. It is essential that the gold colostrum is harvested, stored, and fed to the calf with clean equipment. Overseas, excess colostrum is stored in fridges in sterile containers and given to calves as soon as they’re born. In New Zealand, it’s harder to gauge how much colostrum a calf has had before they reach the shed, and it may be better to play it safe by giving stored colostrum to every calf.
Rebecca: From a dairy beef calf rearing perspective, we notice differences in growth and immunity levels based on how much colostrum they have received in their first four days. Calves intended for dairy beef rearing need to be treated as if they were replacement dairy calves when it comes to colostrum.
What is best practice around feeding?
Mike: More research is coming out about the long-term benefits of high milk systems. A higher milk-fed calf will be larger, reach weaning weight faster, and produce more milk once she enters the herd.
Carla: Traditionally farmers have fed a lower milk allowance of around 10% of a calf’s body weight, but more recent research is indicating that a higher milk allowance, 20% of a calf’s body weight, will provide long-term benefits. The calves are relying on milk as the sole source of nutrition in their first few weeks of life. From a heifer replacement perspective, research has shown, if you’re feeding a good milk allowance, you could see increases in milk-producing tissue (parenchyma) in the udder and get a larger framed cow. Also, if you can feed a good milk allowance you will get to weaning weight faster. If a calf is on its mother it is drinking 10-20L of milk a day, so that’s something to consider.
How should farmers transition calves from milk to CMR and then onto solid feed?
Carla: For dairy farmers with access to colostrum/transition milk, for the transition period to CMR, replace a litre of colostrum/transition milk with a litre of CMR and gradually move them fully over to powder by replacing another litre each day until they are fully over onto CMR. BioSupport probiotic could also be added into the milk powder mix to help the transition process. This is particularly useful in the calf’s first 10 days to set them up for a healthy future.
Rebecca: The key is not to make sudden adjustments to their diet at any point. The general rule of thumb is to reduce the milk by 20-25% over three days at a time to wean to allow calves to adjust to a solid feed diet without suffering a weaning check. You want them to reach 100kg quickly, so growing every day is important.
For more information on best practice around calving, contact your local TSR or visit a Farm Source store. The full webinar is available on Farm Source’s YouTube channel.