Proper calf care is crucial for successful animal management. These articles about calf care meet the National Dairy FARM Animal Care Program’s continuing education requirement.
When it comes to calf housing, we often think about what’s around the animal (including pen walls and air movement), but how much consideration is given to what lies beneath the calf as bedding?
With a wealth of information about the care and treatment for calves on dairy farms available, it can be easy to forget some of the basics that have the biggest impact on calf health
The first colostrum feeding not only helps calves establish passive immunity, it also populates the intestinal tract with bacteria needed for digestion
Sometimes I think water is not valued enough for dairy cattle because it seems to be “free” or costs little compared to other feedstuffs. And it all begins with calves
Calf housing is most often designed with health benefits and labor efficiency in mind. With limited complexity in their environment, calves will often turn to non-nutritive suckling for entertainment
It’s the most important meal a calf will ever receive, but is it as nutritious as it should be? With no immunity to fight off illness, colostrum is essential within the first few hours of life
Do we really have the opportunity to improve first-lactation milk yield with the decisions we make when the calf is still consuming milk or milk replacer?
Farms that utilize medicated milk replacer or calf starter should make adjustments now before the Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD) takes effect on January 1
Serving up the very first meal What matters more: The amount of colostrum fed or the method in which it is delivered? If quality colostrum is fed in large quantities, both bottle and esophageal tube delivery...
For years, preweaned dairy calves were housed individually as a means to reduce the spread of disease and monitor feed intake. Yet, over time, researchers have suggested that calves may benefit from socialization...