With spring calving fast approaching, kickstarting one of the busiest, most demanding time of year, being properly prepared can relieve some of the stress for farmer, cow and calf.
With the onset of winter rapidly approaching and grass quality decreasing, Wynnstay’s beef and sheep manager, Bryn Hughes, advises farmers to plan ahead for housing cattle over winter.
As a country, the UK prides itself as having one of the highest welfare standards where all of the basic needs of farmed animals are met. Over the last few years, production has increased which has included the installation of new parlours, adult cow housing and slurry storage. All this is to meet the demand of the consumer, but often, one thing that has remained the same is calf housing.
There has been a lot of discussion recently in regards to whether to group or individually house neonatal calves. The trend has been to put calves into individual pens, with individual hutches being particularly popular. The main reason for this trend was down to health and disease control, however, recent research has evidence to the contrary, suggesting that pair housing of neonatal calves may indeed improve both growth and welfare by encouraging greater feed intake, development of normal social behaviours, and by reducing stress and helping with weight gain at the time of weaning.
