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.
As hind-gut fermenters, the digestive system of the horse is large, complex and absolutely vital to their health and wellbeing. The gut is important for so much more than simply digesting their food – though doing that well is pretty important!
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.
With UK supermarkets pledging to move away from caged eggs, a new 16,000 bird shed will need to be built each week until 2025 to meet consumer demand. This creates an opportunity for farmers looking to diversify their business by producing free range eggs.
The egg market has a strong future, however getting started in free range egg production is a big investment, both financially and in terms of time associated with obtaining planning permission and managing the shed building.
There are three key considerations for farms looking into setting up a free range system.
There are 13 species of Mycoplasma that can affect cattle, however, some are more aggressive to their host than others. The most significant in the UK appears to be Mycoplasma bovis.
The disease was only discovered in the 1960’s and first found in the UK in the 1970’s. It is thought to be involved in a third to a quarter of all pneumonia cases in Britain. Once in a herd, it is a disease that is notoriously difficult to diagnose and control let alone eradicate.
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.
The risk of heat stress in laying hens can be reduced and managed by focusing on ventilation, house temperature, feed and water factors, and by creating shade.
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.
The beef on dairy market is a rapidly increasing sector of the dairy industry. Sometimes due to on farm factors, the best option is to sell calves under 42 days old and it is often a respectable third milk cheque for the dairy farmer, other options are to sell batches of weaned calves or carry on through the system and sell as stores or finished cattle. The process to enter each market requires careful and forward planning and will be dependent on many factors.
The calves natural feeding behaviour is to suckle off their dam little and often like an ad-lib system. Suckled calves would have around 10/15L of milk a day which is always fresh and warm, giving them more than 1.5kg of dry matter per day from milk. This is coupled with lower solid feed concentration intake and gradual rumen development.
