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AUTUMN 2015 ISSUE
LIVESTOCK MATTERS
12
CAL F HEALTH
Paying more attention to the actual – and not
the perceived – growth rates of calves, and
altering calf-rearing protocols, has enabled
Darren Dodgson to reduce heifer age at first
calving by 4 months (120 days) in the space
of a year.
At Cracalt Farm near Kendal, Darren milks
100 cows, averaging yields of 8,000
litres/cow, and calving all year round.
As part of fortnightly routine fertility visits,
Kirsty will now also take a look at the calves,
take weigh band measurements, and advise
on changes in management. Darren (like
James Robinson) estimates this only adds
about 10 minutes to her visit now, with most
of the major changes already made.
Kirsty explains: ‘Darren uses several
buildings on the farm to keep calves in.
Like many farms, some are not ideal, being
limited in ventilation. And at lambing time,
there’s extra competition for space. So I’ve
advised Darren to spread the calves around,
rather than fill one building, to reduce any
disease pressures. He’s also purchased two
calf igloos, which has also taken the pressure
off the buildings.‘
Darren has also started using calf jackets:
‘These made a big difference through the
winter,‘ he says.
Kirsty adds: ‘They also allowed Darren to
open more of the shed doors and improve
the ventilation, as draughts were less of a
concern now that calves had jackets on.‘
Better nutrition
A change in concentrate ration was made
at the beginning of the year. Darren used to
feed calves on whole milk, hay, water and
a concentrate, but has now switched to
giving them milk replacer from four days of
age, and changing the concentrate to one
which includes chopped straw, and is fed
ad lib. Kirsty explains: ‘This adds more fibre
to the diet, and aids rumen development.
The hay has been dropped out of the ration
– it’s poor in nutritional value.‘
Darren adds: ‘I used to keep calves penned
individually up to weaning. But now I’m
batching them into groups of four or five. It
seems to encourage them to eat more feed.‘
Proof of better growth!
At the start, back in August 2014, two
batches of calves were measured and
growth rates were calculated to be 760
and 790g/day.
By September, on Kirsty’s advice, Darren
had increased the daily milk powder ration
to 850g per calf each day – to make a
more concentrated milk than the bag label
instructions advised. This led to growth rates
increasing to 830g/d – not far off the
target 850g-1kg/d.
In January 2015, Darren reached the
target after switching to a better quality
concentrate, fed ad lib. Calf jackets had
been introduced too. Calves were now
gaining 860g/d. Further weigh-banding in
March showed gains of 870g/d, and in
June they were achieving 920g/d.
Darren adds: ’The calves used to look like
they were doing well; their coats were
shiny and there weren’t many problems with
scour or pneumonia. But it’s only been
because of the measuring that I’ve been
able to appreciate how much better they
could do.‘
‘Now I’m feeding them better, they are
growing better, and so they can go for
breeding sooner. In fact, four months sooner
than previously! And I notice that the heifers
coming through now are larger in the
frame, not just heavier.‘
Case study 2
The new concentrate contains chopped straw to
increase fibre intake
Darren and Kirsty weigh-banding
Calves at Cracalt Farm
Faster growth rates
are
reducing heifer age at first calving
KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
(KPI’s)
in first eight weeks:
XLVets’ Calf Tracker
From this autumn, XLVets will be running a
similar initiative to help farmers – beef and
dairy – to improve calf growth rates in the
first eight weeks of life. The initiative is
based on measuring and monitoring five
key performance indicators (KPIs) as
shown below.
1.
Growth rate to weaning:
Record
birthweight and date, record weaning
age and weight
2.
Total mortality:
Keep a tally of calves that
die between 0 and eight weeks of age
3.
Pneumonia rate:
Record the number of
cases in a 3-month period and divide by
the total number of calves on the ground.
4.
Scour rate:
Record the number of cases
in a 3-month period and divide by the
total number of calves on the ground.
5.
Total protein:
(optional for suckler herds)
Vet to blood sample calves at 1-8 days
of age; review the average and the
variation
To learn more about the XLVets calf rearing
initiative, or find out how to get involved
contact your local XLVets practice.