HEIFERMAX

Recent widespread heavy rains across much of southern Australia have turned many calving paddocks into a sea of mud.

Cows calving in wet, muddy paddocks are more likely to contract mastitis and metritis. Calves which are dropped in the mud at birth are almost certainly going to become ill and possibly to die.

Appropriate care for wet and dirty calves in the first day or so of life can help to minimise the effects of a poor start.

Steps to help prevent disease are:-

·         More frequent collection of calves from the paddock

·         Dip navels in the paddock before transport

·         Administer measured high quality colostrum (use a Colostrometer) as soon as possible (some farms take colostrum into the paddock, to ensure early consumption)

·         Colostrum should be given at 10% of bodyweight in a single feed

·         Dip navel again on entry into the calf barn

·         If a calf’s hair is wet, either put a calf coat on the calf or make a small pen from hay bales and snuggle the calf into the hay, so that it can warm up

·         Consider using a heat lamp for the first few hours of life

·         Feed 1^st milking colostrum as the second feed, to ensure adequate antibodies for absorption and because it has a very high level of nutrients

·         Continue to use transition milk (don’t dilute with milk from the hospital herd) for the first week of life, to ensure calves have plenty of nutrients to help fight infection

·         Monitor these calves regularly, as scouring is likely to be a major issue in the first few days of life

·         Navel or joint ill may appear in calves about a week old. Call the vet if you have a calf with this problem.

A little bit of extra TLC can minimise the effects that a wet and dirty start in life has on calves.

Farmers often think that losing a few calves a year is not a big problem. In fact, dead calves are actually the tip of the iceberg. Related illness and poor feed conversion efficiencies & growth rates in surviving calves cost far more money than the value of the dead calves.

Heifers are going to cost money to rear; particularly when money is short, it needs to be spent where it will give the greatest return. Low milk prices often result in farmers attempting to save money by reducing the costs of calf feeds. Calves which are not adequately fed are more likely to become ill & die. Experience of large scale calf rearers would say that, in general, for every dead calf there are about 5 sick ones.

The death of only 2% of heifers reared is often viewed as a good result. The following illustration estimates the unseen costs and lost productivity associated with 2 deaths from a group of 100 calves. Using “middle of the road” figures based on a Holstein herd, the “iceberg” shows the hidden costs of economising on feed and other rearing inputs.

Whether the figures are exactly accurate for every herd is not important; the point is that by cutting costs to save cents now, the enterprise will be losing dollars both now and in the longer term. Long term productivity will certainly be compromised, possibly at a time when milk prices have risen and dairies are looking for maximum productivity to make up ground lost to poor prices.

The above illustration calculates the costs associated with sick calves and associated lost productivity to be a startling $53,340. Read more »

Time spent recently delivering heifer management classes in Western Australia was very informative.

My interest in the W.A. dairy industry was kindled at the 2008 Australian Dairy Conference, held in Launceston. The chairman of Western Dairy made a presentation about the industry which painted the state and its industry in a rosy light.

Western Australians have always had a reputation for being very progressive, and many innovative agricultural ideas have come from W.A. It appears that their dairy industry is no exception; having declined in dairy numbers, the W.A. industry has made a concerted effort to attract new players into the industry and to consolidate its position in the global market place.

W.A. has 2.1% of Australian dairy farms but produces 3.7% of the milk; this is a testament to the attitude of these farmers and is a prediction of the future success of their industry.

The heifer management day, run on-farm near Busselton, was well organised and promoted. This ensured that it was incredibly well attended and the 5 hour presentation provoked a wide range of interesting questions. It was stimulating to present information to such a receptive audience and although some farmers had to leave mid-afternoon to milk, many stayed on to ask more searching questions.

I look forward to future interaction with this forward thinking sector of the Australian dairy industry.

The Professional Calf Rearers’ Association of Australia is holding its annual conference on 1st July 2009 at the Airport Motel, 33 Ardlie St. Attwood, Vic. 3049.

Click here to view the flyer.

I am just writing the report required of me by RIRDC at the conclusion of my year as Tasmanian Rural Woman of the Year. In writing this report, I gave some thought to the question of what I perceived to be the greatest challenge facing the calf rearing industry.

I have seen 100’s of 1000’s of calves being reared for a variety of reasons, both within Australia and in other parts of the world. My belief is that the greatest problem facing the calf rearing industry is a common thread uniting these different enterprises and different countries.

Read more »

The P.C.R.A.A. is fortunate to have secured the renowned Dr. Temple Grandin as the keynote speaker at its 2009 conference, which will be held on 1st July at the Airport Motel, Attwood.

Dr. Grandin is recognised as a world leader in livestock handling and animal psychology and her work has revolutionised stockyard design and stock handling methods world wide. She has designed livestock facilities throughout the United States and in Canada, Europe, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand and many other countries. Her curved race systems are used worldwide and her writings on the flight zone and other principles of grazing animal behavior have helped many producers to reduce stress during handling.

Dr. Grandin has a Ph.D in Animal Science and is currently a professor of animal sciences at Colorado State University. This enables her to continue her research while teaching courses on stockyard design and livestock handling. She has done extensive work on the design of handling facilities with the result that half the cattle in the U.S. and Canada are handled in equipment she has designed for meat plants.

Read more »

The D.C.H.A. holds its annual conference in a different state of America each year. These conferences are a fascinating collection of presentations by speakers who have expertise in all facets of dairy heifer care and welfare.

At the beginning of April Sam was lucky enough to attend the 2009 conference, which was held in Tucson, Arizona. Kerry Spain, who was the 2008 winner of the “Diamond V Calf Rearer of the Year” award was also able to attend this great event. I am looking forward to catching up with Kerry to hear what she thought of the event. As soon as I have the copy of the proceedings Sam is sending me, I will post some of the information on the website.

Now that green feed has mostly disappeared from paddocks, even in the wetter parts of Tasmania, it is time to consider the diet of weaned heifer calves. All too often spring calved heifers are left in paddocks with no green feed and no supplementation of the dry feed.

Young heifers, particularly those under 6 months of age, have high nutrient requirements in relation to their rumen size. This means that they need to be eating high protein, high energy feed to be meeting target growth rates.

Short, lush, actively growing pasture is great for heifers over 6 months. Heifers under 6 months may still need some supplementation, particularly when pastures start to senesce. The low nutrient levels and high NDF in older pastures means calves will have trouble eating enough to be growing at the required rate. Once heifers reach 6 months, they will be able to take in enough green pasture to be actively growing; if pastures have dried off, these heifers will also need some supplementation. 1 kg of 14-16% protein pellets will make a big difference to growth rates.

Read more »

Spring calving herds have weaned most of their calves by now. After heifers are put onto pasture is often the time that they go backwards, so in the resources section we have added an article on pasture feeding heifers and also on how to calculate growth rates necessary to achieve target mating and calving weights.

In many areas it looks as if it might be a tight season; this means that heifers may have to be supplemented more heavily than normal because the nutrient value of the pasture is insufficient to support ideal daily growth rates.

For calf raisers working with autumn calving herds we have just added more information to the resources page which may be useful in the care of baby calves.

Read more »

The 2008 Annual Conference was held at the AIRPORT MOTEL AND CONVENTION CENTRE in July.

Although the day was not quite as well attended as last year those attending were very impressed with the range of topics presented and the calibre of the speakers. It has always been the intention of the P.C.R.A.A. to present information in an easy to understand format, so that farmers can implement the recommendations of the speakers when they return home. Once again, we must thank the sponsors for supporting our Association.

Next year’s conference is likely to have a keynote speaker of international renown and of interest to dairy farmers as well as to beef and sheep graziers. Watch this space for details or go to www.calfrearers.asn.au.