Facility Focus: Is Your Calf Warming Room Ready for Another Winter?

Oh, the weather outside is frightful, but the calf warming room is so delightful!

During a cold, blustery day on the farm, do you ever find yourself popping into the barn office to warm up? It helps take the chill off and instantly perks up your mood. The same can be said for newborn calves.

Warming rooms and commercial warming boxes can quite literally be a lifesaver for newborn calves. Dairy calves are born with only 2-4% body fat, which is not enough to sustain them long during cold temps. Thankfully, warming rooms can offer a clean, dry and warm space for a newborn calf to dry off and rest after an eventful calving.

Faith Cullens-Nobis, a dairy extension educator for Michigan State University, offers up the following tips to help prepare your calf warming room for another cold season:

Keep it Clean!

While newborn calves typically stay in the warming room for only a few hours, the environment must be kept clean and dry. Walls and floors should be scrubbed regularly to help keep disease-causing pathogens at bay.

“Without proper management and sanitation, warming rooms and boxes will quickly become a contaminated environment and present a significant disease risk to calves,” Cullens-Nobis says. “Carefully consider how flooring and walls can be cleaned if there is a steady flow of calves. If there is not a drain in the floor, then cleaning with water can become a challenge.”

Monitor Air Flow

Adequate ventilation in a warming room is just as important as it is in a calf barn or hutch. The room’s air should turnover a minimum of four times every hour.

“Don’t underestimate the ventilation needs for an enclosed space housing wet calves that are urinating and defecating,” Cullens-Nobis says. “Without proper ventilation, calves will not dry properly, and air quality will become poor enough that people and animals should not be inside.”

Turn Up the Heat

If the calf warming room isn’t kept warm, then what’s the point of having it? Newborn calves maintain their core body temperature when temperatures range from 50°F to 77°F. When temperatures drop below this threshold, the calf will begin to experience cold stress and direct its energy toward maintaining an optimal body temperature. Cullens-Nobis suggests using the following heat sources:

“Heat lamps can be used to warm calves, but carry a fire risk and do not move air around,” she says. “Space heaters can be considered if the space is small. Radiant heaters with a fan work well and dry calves quickly. Ideally, set the radiant heater on a timer or thermostat to avoid over-heating calves.”

As the thermometer starts to dip lower and lower, now is the time to make sure your calf warming room is in tip-top shape. This easy to use and relatively affordable facility might be just what the doctor ordered to help newborn calves thrive this winter.