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Calf & Heifer Adviser Articles
Bandage it with pantyhose
A calf at Offhaus Farms in New York State got a horn infection from dehorning and needed daily care. Conventional foot wrap bandage did not do the job, says Pam Sojda, calf manager. “It was either too tight on the calf’s neck or too loose to keep the gauze on.” The wound needed to be kept free of bedding and flies, yet still allow for some air.
Sojda improvised with a leg cut off a pair of pantyhose. “It worked perfectly,” she says. “The pantyhose kept out the bedding and flies, but held the gauze in place.” After slipping the “leg” of the pantyhose over the calf’s nose and head, she cut small holes for the calf’s eyes and ears. The pantyhose bandage allowed the calf to eat easily and the wound to breathe.
If the pantyhose bind up too tight around her neck, a few snips from the scissors at the neck solves the problem, she says. One “leg” of the pantyhose can make two bandages.
Since this calf’s horn infection required cleaning out twice a day for more than a week, the pantyhose was just pulled back, the wound cleaned and treated, then put back in place. In the interest of cleanliness and economics, the “leg” was changed once per day. Sojda says the calf seemed to prefer the pantyhose bandage over the first bandage of foot wrap.
Windbreaks for heifers
Protection from wind and snow is essential for heifers housed outdoors in dry lot, mound or pasture systems. Without this protection, cold temperatures and environmental conditions can take a toll on heifer growth, and in some cases, health. Joe Harner, an extension engineer from Kansas State University, provides these tips for building windbreaks.
Harner says, as a general rule-of-thumb, a windbreak will protect an area 10 times the height of the windbreak. In addition, the snow-dump area is four times the windbreak height. So, for a windbreak 10 feet tall, the protected area extends 100 feet from the fence, and snow will be captured within 40 feet of the fence. He advises to avoid solid fences for windbreaks. Solid fences create wind turbulence near the fence and encourage snow to dump against the windbreak. In severe blizzards, heifers will move closer to the windbreak to get more protection and may suffocate in the snow if a solid fence is used. To prevent snow dumping and wind turbulence, Harner recommends that 20 percent of the fence be open space. For example, if the windbreak is built from 2-inch x 6-inch lumber, leave a gap of 0.75 to 1 inch between boards to provide open space.
Source: Dairy Calf and Heifer Association
Criteria for healthy calf pens
Ken Nordlund and his colleagues at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine have developed the “ideal Wisconsin calf pen concept” based on their research, which shows that a poorly designed pen can create an unhealthy microenvironment inside a naturally ventilated calf barn. The Wisconsin calf pen concept outlines seven criteria for healthy pens.
- Provide 32 square feet per calf, with a 6-inch layer of bedding to cushion against physical injuries and to insulate the pen surface. Clean, dry bedding will help calves maintain a clean, dry hair coat that provides further insulation.
- Use solid panels that are 4-feet tall between calves. Solid pen walls reduce nose-to-nose contact that can spread disease and minimize drafts on calves.
- Extend side walls 12 inches past the front of the pen to further reduce contact between calves.
- Construct open front and rear panels to promote ventilation and good air quality in the pen. If pens are placed back-to-back, leave at least one foot between them to reduce contact between calves.
- Limit the solid part of the back wall to a maximum height of 18 inches to help keep bedding in place without limiting ventilation.
- Provide two holes in the front panel for feed and water access. Forcing calves to use separate openings reduces the amount of milk and water dribbled into grain and grain dribbled into water, wasting less grain and improving intake of both grain and water. Place bucket rails so feed is 12 to 16 inches above the pen floor; this helps calves find feed and water quickly.
- Keep drafts down with bedding, not hovers, during cold weather. Hovers placed on the back third of a pen eliminate ventilation and increase counts of airborne bacteria in the pen. Provide deep-straw bedding and use calf blankets instead.
Source: Dairy Calf and Heifer Association
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