Safe, effective deworming, free of the hassle of having to 'work' your heifers
Safe-Guard® enables deworming heifers on pasture, with non-handling formulations including blocks, mineral, pellets and cubes. Click here to learn more.
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Use gentle persuasion
How employees greet new calf arrivals makes a big difference in how quickly they adjust
to their new surroundings, says Jim Reynolds, service chief of dairy production medicine
at the Veterinary Medicine Teaching and Research Center in Tulare, Calif. Calves are already
scared from the trip and are often hesitant to step off the trailer. Unfortunately, this
hesitancy sometimes leads employees to drag calves off by their ears. This, in turn, further
raises calves’ blood cortisol levels. The result is that calves take longer to settle in and
start eating again.
Reynolds recommends that all employees be trained to walk into the trailer, gently move any
hesitant calves out, and never use calves’ ears as handles.
What do your calves say?
If you walk into the calf area and it’s not feeding time, do the calves bawl? If so, they are
saying “feed me!” says Mike Van Amburgh, dairy nutritionist at Cornell University. Well-fed calves
do not bawl when someone walks into the area — unless it is time for their next meal. So, if it’s
not feeding time, and your calves routinely bawl at your arrival, it’s time to re-evaluate your
feeding program.
Help calves adjust to an accelerated program
Free-choice water is critical when you begin an accelerated milk-replacer program. Calves need
the water to “chase” the higher level of protein and sugar found in these products, says Sheila McGuirk,
veterinarian at the University of Wisconsin’s School of Veterinary Medicine. An abrupt change in the diet
is a recipe for potential problems with Clostridium perfringens, which can lead to abomasal bloat in
calves. “Calves can tolerate a lot, but we need to acclimate them,” she says.
When to start breeding heifers
Not sure when to start breeding heifers? Jose Santos, associate professor at the Veterinary Medicine Teaching and Research Center in Tulare, Calif., says you should wait to start breeding heifers until they have achieved these milestones:
- Heifers are sexually mature, with two or more estrous cycles completed since puberty.
- Heifers are at least 12 months of age.
- Heifers have reached 55 percent to 60 percent of mature body weight. In Holsteins, that is about 800 pounds.
- Heifers have achieved adequate frame size. In Holsteins, this equates to a wither height of about 49 inches.
Brush up on reproductive strategies
Make sure your operation’s reproductive strategies are up to snuff with this tool from Penn State University.
“Reproductive Management Systems for Artificial Insemination of Dairy Heifers” offers a guide to implementing
and fine-tuning heifer reproductive programs. To access the publication,
follow this link.
Train employees on proper euthanasia techniques
One of the most common mistakes made when using the captive-bolt technique for euthanasia is failure to
check if the calf is unconscious before proceeding to the next step, bleeding out. To check
consciousness, touch your finger to the calf’s eye, explains Jim Reynolds, service chief of dairy
production medicine at the Veterinary Medicine Teaching and Research Center in Tulare, Calif. If the
calf blinks, you must use the captive-bolt technique again. If the calf does not blink, it is all right
to proceed to the next step.
For complete instructions on how to use the captive-bolt technique,
follow this link. Materials are available in English and Spanish.
PDHGA announces membership promotion
Persons who join the Professional Dairy Heifer Growers Association by June 30 will be entered in a contest to
win a year’s use (or 600 hours) of a New Holland LS 120 model skid-steer or a copy of Bonnie Mohr’s painting
“Enchanted Pastures.” For more information, call the PDHGA office at (877) 434-3377.
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