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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Consider stockpiling grass for fall
In order to stretch his heifers' grazing season, Huddleston, Va., custom-heifer grower
Don Gardner fences off half of each grazing paddock in August. The cool-season fescue grass
is then top-dressed with nitrogen fertilizer and allowed to grow. Then, in the fall, he
moves the electric fence every couple of days to give heifers access to the stockpiled
grass in small strips. This, he says, extends his grazing season significantly and helps
distribute manure evenly across the paddock.
Johne’s segregation
Here’s a good idea to help prevent the spread of Johne ’s disease. When Ebert Enterprises
Dairy near Algoma, Wis., built a transition cow barn a couple of years ago, one calving pen
was placed completely separate from the others. This separate calving pen is only used for
cows with Johne’s disease. This helps eliminate contamination of the other calving pens. In
addition, calves only receive colostrum from Johne’s-negative cows.
Rules for on-farm pasteurization of waste milk
On-farm pasteurizers are a valuable tool when feeding waste milk to calves. However,
significant risks are taken if managers do not address the critical-control points involved,
explains Bob James, extension dairy specialist at Virginia Tech. The result can be detrimental
to your calves’ health. To learn his 10 keys for pasteurization success, go to: dairyherd.com.
Give calves a buddy system
When you first move weaned calves from hutches into a group pen, put an even number of calves in the pen. That way, calves can buddy up with each other, which helps minimize the stress of a new social environment, says Gordie Jones, director of herd performance for Fair Oaks Dairy in Fair Oaks, Ind.
Use small-gauge needles with calves
When giving injections to calves, always use subcutaneous administration if possible and the
smallest gauge needle you can, advises Jim Reynolds, service chief of dairy production medicine
at the Veterinary Medicine Teaching and Research Center in Tulare, Calif. Smaller needles
translate into less pain for the animal and less tissue damage. In calves, he recommends using
an 18-gauge needle and replacing it after three or four injections. Needles develop a barb on
the tip after just a few uses. This barb makes the injection more painful and also results in
more blood, which, in turn, leads to more flies and potential problems.
Give new arrivals a report card
Thirty days after each new group of calves arrives at this custom-heifer raising facility, the
owner gets a report card on how his heifers stack up. Each calf is measured for height and weight
upon arrival. Then, a growth chart that plots each heifer against the average is printed. This
gives producers an indication of how their heifers measure up against other heifers and alerts
them to potential problems, explains Don Gardner, veterinarian and custom heifer raiser in
Huddleston, Va. For example, when the report card showed one producer that his heifers were
below average for height and weight, he investigated and found that employees were no longer
feeding calves a coccidiostat because the supply had run out.
Heifer growth spreadsheets
Researchers at Penn State University have developed a series of Excel spreadsheets that you can use to
monitor heifer growth. The tools can be used to evaluate pens of heifers, pens of calves, individual
animals, average dairy gain and to assess multiple measurements of a group. To access them, as well as
instructions on how to use the tools and interpret results,
follow this link.
Keep computer records safe
Your calf and heifer records are critical to your management. Make sure you regularly back up your
files — at least monthly — to some type of mobile storage like zip disks, CD, flash memory or a portable
hard drive and store them in a location away from your computer, recommends Dean Ross, Michigan State
University extension dairy educator. That way, you’ll be able to retrieve valuable information in the
event of a fire, flood or other disaster.
How are we doing?
By now, you have received several issues of Calf & Heifer Adviser. And we would like to hear
your thoughts on how we are doing.
Later this week, look for an e-mail from Calf & Heifer Adviser in your inbox. The short survey
will only take a few minutes to complete. For your time, you’ll be entered into a contest for a
Dairy Herd Management cap, shirt or jacket. Thanks in advance for your help in making Calf &
Heifer Adviser a better information tool.
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