Dairy Herd Management's Calf and Heifer Adviser

Heifer research in Spanish
A South Dakota State University study that shows the effect of feeding heifers a combination of wet distillers grains and soy hulls or wet distillers and corn stalks is available in Spanish. The researchers ensiled the wet distillers with soy hulls or corn stalks. To share the results with your Spanish-speaking employees, follow this link (PDF format).

No milk here
Calves on one New York dairy remain in their hutches for a week following weaning to help them adjust to a new diet before moving to group housing. So the calves don’t accidentally continue to receive milk, a sign made from the lid of a 5-gallon pail is attached to the weaned-calf pens. The signs are clearly marked in Spanish and English to prevent confusion. Similar sign lids are placed at every point where the feeding protocol changes. Submitted by Sam Leadley, Attica (N.Y.) Veterinary Associates

Communication coup
Dairy beef quality assurance is the responsibility of everyone in the grower chain, as learned recently by Wilmar, Minn., custom heifer grower Tom Gustafson.
“One of our large dairy clients was receiving pressure from their wet-calf grower to use an off-label vaccine protocol,” explains Gustafson. “We take their heifers after weaning, and felt very strongly that we should not deviate from the label.”
A group meeting involving the dairy’s management, both contract growers, the dairy’s veterinarian, the vaccine manufacturer’s representative, and the manufacturer’s technical services veterinarian, was very productive. “We ended up agreeing on an on-label protocol,” shares Gustafson. “But, just as important, we all walked away with a better understanding of our collective mission — to protect the health and safety of the animals in our care, and those interests of the end-consumer as well.”

Parking guide
Calf-feeding personnel at Willow Bend Dairy near Clifton Springs, N.Y., know exactly where the calf-feed delivery tractor must be parked in order to load up. Lines have been painted on the floor so that the fill pipe from the parlor lines up with the opening in the waste-milk tank. The guide saves time because the unit stops in the right spot each time, regardless of who drives the tractor.
Submitted by Sam Leadley, Attica (N.Y.) Veterinary Associates

Calf seminar coming up
A calf-growth seminar will take place in Columbus, Ohio, on March 8. The seminar is sponsored by the American Jersey Cattle Association and held in conjunction with the group’s winter board meetings. The seminar is free, but please register by March 3. Send e-mail to Cherie Bayer at: cbayer@usjersey.com.

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