Dairy Herd Management's Calf and Heifer Adviser

Calf management a hot topic at short course
The questions flowed freely following Pat Hoffman's talk at the International Dairy Short Course, held last week in conjunction with World Dairy Expo. Hoffman, a dairy researcher at the University of Wisconsin's Marshfield Agricultural Research Station, gave an overview of innovations in calf and heifer management. A portion of his talk focused on calf-feeding programs, including accelerated feeding. He cited a recent study that shows calves fed a 30-percent protein, 16-percent fat milk replacer reached puberty and breeding weight 15 days earlier than calves fed a conventional milk replacer. The heifers also calved 17 days earlier. However, there was no difference in body size or milk production at calving. Choose a calf-feeding program that best fits your operation, Hoffman said.

Get heifers to eat all of their feed
Keep heifer feed cost low with good bunk management. "The only way that feed should leave the bunk is down the throat," said Pat Hoffman with the University of Wisconsin's Marshfield Agricultural Research Station. Hoffman explained ways to improve heifer feed bunk management at the International Dairy Short Course, held in conjunction with World Dairy Expo. For more details, go to dairyherd.com.

Transition milk has value, too
Get the most out of transition milk that your cows give in their second, third and fourth milkings post-parturition. "We want to feed that transition milk because it does have higher levels of the important antibodies — IgG and IgA — than regular milk," says Jim Quigley, vice president of worldwide research and technical services for Diamond V. While it may not have as high of antibody levels as first-milking colostrum, "it still has good values," he adds. That, in turn, can help protect the intestines of young calves from infection. The value of transition milk is one of the points Quigley found himself emphasizing to people at World Dairy Expo last week.

Time is of the essence with waste milk
Bob James, extension dairy specialist at Virginia Tech, wants dairy producers who feed waste milk to calves to keep one thing in mind: Time is of the essence. Even after pasteurization, bacteria can re-grow pretty quickly. For example, pasteurized waste milk left at room temperature can have a standard plate count of 150,000 to 200,000 cfu/mL in just one hour. Bottom line: Pasteurize and feed waste milk as soon after harvest as possible. If you must wait to feed, quickly chill and refrigerate between feedings.

Two reasons why you need documentation
It doesn't matter if you have one employee or 100, basic documentation, such as written job descriptions, employee handbooks, operating procedures, performance reviews and job applications are a must in today's world. First of all, documentation helps protect you legally, Don Tyler, employee management consultant from Clarks Hill, Ind., told producers attending World Dairy Expo last week. For example, if you fire someone and he sues, it's difficult to prove he wasn't doing his job without a written job description and performance reviews. And second, you will only attract marginal employees. That's because good employees want to work in an environment where everyone knows and is held accountable for their jobs.