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.
Weaning is the most important transition a calf has to go through before she enters the milking herd, and it is a nutritionally and socially stressful time
The feeding behavior patterns of dairy cattle are known to impact health, productivity, and welfare. Trevor DeVries, University of Guelph, will discuss how the way we feed, house, and manage calves impacts...
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