Newborn calf feeding protocols

[Jamer]

Can I ask what’s anyone’s favoured feed regime. As we start tightening our calving season the workload needs simplifying with regard to feeding until they are on barrels. Do you keep singly for a day or 2 until ready to join a group or is it 1 stomach tube feed and on to a multi feeder?

 

[In the pit]

Here I stomach tube then straight into a small pen inside a big pen of 12
You could have a pen born aday so they’ll be all same age and size any way
DAB of green stay on there back when there drinking properly and helps you keep an eye on the slower ones

 

[som farmer]

we pen singly, or double if pushed for space.
making sure calves have their colostrum is key.

 

[jimmer]

Pick calves up once a day, everything offered dams colostrum on teat feeder at first milking, if they're hungry they drink if not they will in 12hours
Zero scours, pneumonia, or health issues

 

[Beef farmer]

Collect 8am daily, tube everything, from 24 hours old down to 5 min old. Stick in pen of 13 with tags in and navels dipped.
24 hours later teat train.3 feeds later into pens of 40 until 8 weeks old.

 

[lazy farmer]

Bottle feed everything as soon as it can stand. All calves get a second colostrum feed on the bottle before getting moved into pens of 20. As with @jimmer no treatments of any sort this season. Though we do have wind socks and we do vaccinate the herd with bovigen scour. Also rightly or wrongly we don’t clean the drums out very often.

 

[Jamer]

Collect 8am daily, tube everything, from 24 hours old down to 5 min old. Stick in pen of 13 with tags in and navels dipped.
24 hours later teat train.3 feeds later into pens of 40 until 8 weeks old.

How are you feeding them in the 40s? Trailer feeder or multiple barrels?

 

[Jamer]

Bottle feed everything as soon as it can stand. All calves get a second colostrum feed on the bottle before getting moved into pens of 20. As with @jimmer no treatments of any sort this season. Though we do have wind socks and we do vaccinate the herd with bovigen scour. Also rightly or wrongly we don’t clean the drums out very often.

So yours go from 2nd bottle feed straight onto the barrel?

 

[lazy farmer]

So yours go from 2nd bottle feed straight onto the barrel?

Yes. There is an Argument that when numbers slow Down a little starter pen wiithin the larger pen with a gate mounted feeder. Maybe helpful to the person feeding them.

 

[jimmer]

Bottle feed everything as soon as it can stand. All calves get a second colostrum feed on the bottle before getting moved into pens of 20. As with @jimmer no treatments of any sort this season. Though we do have wind socks and we do vaccinate the herd with bovigen scour. Also rightly or wrongly we don’t clean the drums out very often.

We fencovis at dry off, find it makes a big difference
Didn't do a group this spring and although none got ill they weren't as thrifty as the vaccinated group, they were sold at 3 weeks old before chance to get ill admittedly

 

[jimmer]

Youngest calves get milk from freshest calved ad lib for first 3-4 days, find this makes big difference too

 

[Holsteinfriesian90]

Collect 8am daily, tube everything, from 24 hours old down to 5 min old. Stick in pen of 13 with tags in and navels dipped.
24 hours later teat train.3 feeds later into pens of 40 until 8 weeks old.

What’s the reason for moving away from angus?

 

[Beef farmer]

What’s the reason for moving away from angus?

Greed

 

[Lewis]

Pick calves up once a day, everything offered dams colostrum on teat feeder at first milking, if they're hungry they drink if not they will in 12hours
Zero scours, pneumonia, or health issues

Bottle feed everything as soon as it can stand. All calves get a second colostrum feed on the bottle before getting moved into pens of 20. As with @jimmer no treatments of any sort this season. Though we do have wind socks and we do vaccinate the herd with bovigen scour. Also rightly or wrongly we don’t clean the drums out very often.

REALLY? How do you manage no treatments? Do you mean you don’t have a single scour so don’t use any hydration sachets etc?

Granted we are AYR calving but even with good colostrum protocols and jagging cows with rotavirus and blousing at dry off we experience scours in far too many animals! Over 50% at least .

 

[Beef farmer]

REALLY? How do you manage no treatments? Do you mean you don’t have a single scour so don’t use any hydration sachets etc?

Granted we are AYR calving but even with good colostrum protocols and jagging cows with rotavirus and blousing at dry off we experience scours in far too many animals! Over 50% at least .

Not sure last year we treated any calves for scours. 650 in 10 weeks. Eyes is our biggest battle.

 

[lazy farmer]

REALLY? How do you manage no treatments? Do you mean you don’t have a single scour so don’t use any hydration sachets etc?

Granted we are AYR calving but even with good colostrum protocols and jagging cows with rotavirus and blousing at dry off we experience scours in far too many animals! Over 50% at least .

Yes no scours.
Sheds are rested for at least 6 months. After being steamed cleaned. They are then steam cleaned again in January before calving starts.
With the heifers calves they stay in one place until they are weaned and go to grass.
With the beef calves we use an all in all out system. The pens are then cleaned out without the use of water. But then sprayed with a kill Cox product before the next group enter.
Crypto is our biggest potential issue keep that at bay and all is well
We have footdips outside each calf shed.
. Quite frankly even though we have a dedicated calf rearer we haven’t got the time or money to have sick calves and the reduced growth rates.

 

[jimmer]

REALLY? How do you manage no treatments? Do you mean you don’t have a single scour so don’t use any hydration sachets etc?

Granted we are AYR calving but even with good colostrum protocols and jagging cows with rotavirus and blousing at dry off we experience scours in far too many animals! Over 50% at least .

What lazy just said basically

 

[DairyShorthorn2020]

Bottle feed everything as soon as it can stand. All calves get a second colostrum feed on the bottle before getting moved into pens of 20. As with @jimmer no treatments of any sort this season. Though we do have wind socks and we do vaccinate the herd with bovigen scour. Also rightly or wrongly we don’t clean the drums out very often.

How do you like the wind socks?

 

[lazy farmer]

How do you like the wind socks?

Very much. Previous to having them we would have ended up treating about 10% of calves for coughing and high temps. And have lost mature cows due to pneumonia damage.

 

[rustyspring]

Our calves are given a calf paste tube at birth and then stay stay on the cow for 48 hours (no johne's), then paired for a few days before moving into groups of 10 until weaning. No scours this year so far - 130 calved. We had masses of trouble last year with scours, calves drooling and generally not wanting to drink (lost 3 calves). The vets were clueless. Turned out the calves were allergic to the milk powder we were using, which is a premium product sold as enhancing the health of the calf!