That first meal of colostrum can truly set the stage for calfhood and beyond

Individual dairy calf housing was a concept that arose in the 1960s. At the time, dairy farmers were struggling with high rates of calf morbidity and mortality

Group housing for preweaned calves often comes with an investment in automated feeders, but it doesn’t have to. The Paxton family of Grove City, Pa., is a working example of this.At Irishtown Acres

For Steele, a professor at the University of Guelph, calf health all starts with colostrum. He reminded the audience about the importance of cleanliness for both the colostrum and the equipment used to...

Animals can get themselves into tricky situations that require fast thinking and careful maneuvering to remedy

After being vaccinated, have you ever felt feverish and tired? Have you sprained your ankle and experienced swelling, or was your ankle even warm to the touch?

Taking our time is necessary on the farm but also teaches valuable lessons

Getting calves off to a good start includes a nutritional program that encourages weight gain at a young age. “I want calves gaining weight by the second week of life,” said Bob James

What job on your farm would you like to make easier?There are many possible answers to this question, but a top contender for many would likely be disbudding calves

Quality, quantity, quickness, squeaky clean, and quantify: these “five Qs” developed by Sandra Godden at the University of Minnesota serve as guidelines for effectively supplying colostrum

Those who work closely with the calves on a dairy farm must always be on the lookout for signs of illness. Identifying calves that are dealing with the most common issues — scours and pneumonia

A growing number of farmers are choosing pair housing over individual pens for preweaned calves to capture some of the cognitive and social benefits that can be gained when cattle are raised in groups

When temperatures are between 59°F and 82°F, a dairy calf can manage and control its body temperature with relative ease. “They are generating metabolic body heat and have normal exchange...

The long awaited publication of the eighth edition of Nutrient Requirements of Dairy Cattle by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) includes a chapter on calf nutrition

In my last article, I described how to identify cows that aborted in the dairy herd as a step to improve the reproductive performance

Conversations about calf feeding often focus on the liquid portion of the diet, either milk or milk replacer, but calf starter is an important part of the equation, too

It can seem difficult — or almost impossible — to keep water in front of calves in cold weather without having to deal with frozen buckets

As we brace ourselves and our farms for winter, there is one particularly vulnerable population on the dairy when it comes to cold weather.“Newborns are going to be the most susceptible animals

Sarah Morrison, a research scientist at the William H. Miner Agricultural Research Institute, presented, “Caring for calves in cold weather.”

“If you are considering group housing, you have to be really good at everything,” said veterinarian Terri Ollivett during her presentation