With animal welfare becoming an ever-increasing concern for the consumer and becoming more prominent in dairy contracts. Recent research has highlighted the importance of physical enrichment for calves in their environment. Studies from University of Reading suggest that pen enrichment can promote natural behaviours, reduce stress and frustration amongst calves (Mason and Burn, 2011).
Giving calves more choice in how to express natural behaviours, will boost their welfare as well as highlighting any potential calf health implications earlier, with calves in poorer health tending to not utilising enrichment methods as much; this ultimately leads to better overall health and performance. Offering choice accommodates individual differences in their behaviours, and can give greater insights into how to detect illness by observing changes in behaviour.
When environmental change occurs, it can have a short and long term negative effect on calf health and performance, however there are periods of time where change will be inevitable and out of our control such as humidity, air speed, temperature etc.
Although we cannot eradicate the risk completely, we can implement cost effective management strategies within the housing environment to help minimise disease incidence, reduce stress, and promote feed intake during the rearing and weaning period.
Calving is a stressful time for both cow and calf. This can suppress a cow’s immune system and calves are born without any immunity leaving them both susceptible to infections. One of the key ways in which to minimise health risks and optimise health and performance (for both cow and calf) is to assess hygiene in and around the calving pen.
Whether cows calving in individual or group pens, good hygiene should always be mandatory for your calf pens. This will help reduce naval infections, joint ill and reduce risk of scours for calves as well as helping to reduce mastitis and uterine infections in the cow, allowing her to be more productive in the following lactation.
Housing challenges often compromise calf rearing performance, but attention to detail in areas such as nutrition and hygiene can help offset these weaknesses.
Recently, a project team based at AFBI Hillsborough recorded a variety of different housing systems on commercial farms in Northern Ireland. The study was representative of practices on UK dairy units as a whole and certainly highlighted both strengths and weaknesses in terms of replacement heifer calf management practices.
Problems in calf buildings usually are due to imbalances in one or more of these five separate factors; Moisture, Fresh Air, Air Speed, Temperature and Hygiene.
Heat stress in the dry cow pen can have significant implications on both cow and unborn calf performance. Heat stressed cows have decreased dry matter intakes, increased metabolic stress, poor transition and decreased milk production and immune response. A factor which can often become over- looked is the impact heat stress can have on the calf in utero, which can impact its future on your farm.
Cryptosporidiosis is one of the most common causes of calf scour. Calves are usually affected shortly after birth and develop scour at around 5-7 days. Infected calves suffer permanent damage to the intestinal lining which reduces their ability to absorb nutrients and water. It can affect growth rates and push back the age at first calving.
With warm weather approaching, the risk of heat stress in calves increases. Everyone is well aware that heat stress in adult cattle reduces performance, increases stress and results in increased incidence of disease, and calves are no different. Calves have an upper critical limit of 25°C, however they will start to feel the effects of heat stress at 21°C.
Pretty much all farmers have heard of calf jackets, they have gained popularity in recent years as a way to control cold stress but do we know how to use them correctly?
Let’s take humans for example, when the temperature drops, we put more layers on, right? And vice versa when the temperature rises; should we consider this for our calves too? First, let’s understand why we use the calf jackets.
When it comes to calf rearing there are many topics we can stand in a yard (or sit in a pub!) And have a healthy debate over which milk powder to use, Protein in heifer diets, Single housing v group housing… the list is endless. There are a few things that are non-negotiable. I want to make sure they become the essentials on your farm too.
