The intestine of a calf is still developing throughout the first few weeks of life, and production of digestive enzymes are increasing with age. The calf doesn’t obtain all the nutrients available in liquid feeds for a period after birth.
There is no such thing as a silver bullet balancing for Amino Acids in calf milk replacer.
Amino acids are certainly the buzz word in ruminant nutrition, and rightly so. Nevertheless, will AA supplementation change the world of calf milk replacers too?
There are two overarching themes in research and ongoing farm trials:
Many farmers prefer to use whole milk to feed their calves. Some find it more convenient, others believe it to be a more natural product that is best suited to the calf – nature’s original liquid feed strategy.
Avoid the risks of exceeding nutrient tolerance. The graph shows at what level calves reach their nutrient tolerance for lactose. The red line represents a typical high plane of nutrition using a typical calf milk replacer where, especially early in life, there is a risk of exceeding lactose tolerance, leading to nutritional diarrhoea.
A difficult birth can have a negative impact on health, performance, and survivability of youngstock. We must aim to not only reduce levels and severity of dystocia but also put protocols in place to manage calves from difficult births.
Scour, dehydration and resulting performance implications are a huge issue on farm. Osmofit is the new generation of oral rehydration solution, it is a dietetic water-soluble calf rehydration product.
For years we have seen demand for 5 and 10kg bags of lamb milk replacer. But if we take a closer look at how much powder it takes to rear a lamb…should we really be buying these small bags?
The preparation of lambs for weaning is a vital process to reduce the risk of a growth check during the transition from milk and to ensure lambs continue to thrive. It is therefore important to ensure lambs have access to clean and fresh water; high quality concentrates and a sufficient source of roughage alongside their milk supply. The type of roughage supplied can influence many factors, such as rumen development.
Colostrum is often described as "liquid gold" and as the fuel for life. One secret to rearing healthy lambs, and for future production, is to make sure each lamb receives enough colostrum.
We are all aware of the detrimental effects that heat stress can have on our cows, and are often quick to run to the cow sheds and collecting yards to put measures in place to mitigate this.
