Calves with Sam

Low Cost Ways to Improve Calf Care

I was asked a question at a meeting of dairy producers.

"I enjoyed your presentation. But, what are some low-cost ways to improve calf care?"

So, we ticked off several management-based practices that would not require little or no capital investment in facilities or purchase of equipment.

Here is the short list: 

Dip umbilical cords on newborn calves. Click HERE for a short economic analysis of the profitability of navel dipping. Click HERE for "Navel dipping - advantages and alternatives."

Milk fresh cows soon after milking. At 10 hours post calving 27 percent of initial antibodies are gone. The best quality colostrum is collected as soon as practical post-calving.

Check colostrum quality before feeding to newborn calves. Go to www.calffacts.com and select "Colostrum: Testing using a Brix refractometer."  Click HERE for a quick review of variations in quality and quantity among cows.

Use human standards of cleanliness when managing colostrum. At www.calffacts.com see "Colostrum: Reducing coliform counts - a check list." Also, click HERE for a checklist to evaluate your sanitation procedures.

Feed colostrum to a newborn calf as soon as practical after birth. 

Feed enough good quality colostrum to newborn calves. By 4 weeks one estimate is a loss of $48 per calf by not feeding enough good quality colostrum  

Check colostrum management effectiveness by measuring immunity levels. See www.calffacts.com, select "Testing for Passive Immunity" or click HERE.

Are any of these alternatives viable ones you could use to upgrade your calf care?