Dairy Calves - News & Insights
Stay updated on the latest dairy calf management strategies. Explore expert advice on colostrum management, calf nutrition, disease prevention, and the beef-on-dairy trend to ensure a healthy, productive future for your herd.
Discover how Dr. Jody Kull takes dairy protocols in stagnant binders and creates fluid risk-management tools that improve calf care, transition health, and team communication.
Beef-on-dairy calves are showing fewer scours cases and repeat treatments than Holsteins, adding another layer to their value on dairy farms.
Ammonia can build in calf hutches and affect growth, but small changes in bedding and daily management can help keep levels in check.
Many calves develop pneumonia days before showing symptoms. Lung ultrasounds are helping veterinarians detect the hidden disease earlier.
For producers striving to deliver consistent, high-quality colostrum to newborn calves, the most important management window may begin much earlier than previously thought.
Better airflow, thoughtful pen design and improved daily routines are helping calves thrive like never before on these two dairies.
Not all colostrum is equal, but simple on-farm tools can help you determine the best quality.
When tracked across calves and over time, serum total protein can provide insights into calf health, management consistency and future performance.
The importance of colostrum in raising healthy, productive calves only continues to grow as we learn more about it.
Tiny tweaks in the calving pen can add up to big dollars.
When it comes to colostrum, more isn’t always better.
Are there ways to change calves’ environment and management to make their lives better? If so, can those improvements be made without major capital investments? Yes and yes, according to University of Florida calf researcher Dr. Emily Miller-Cushon.
Dr. Adam Beard shares new research evaluating short-term contact between cows and calves and its impact on early calf health and growth.
Virtually all calf starter grain formulations in the U.S. currently lean on soybean meal as their main protein source. But researchers at Kansas State University are looking at an interesting alternative – distillers grain.
Calf barns need excellent ventilation in all seasons, for different reasons. Evaluating calf barns to optimize ventilation can be done easily and at minimal cost with smoking or fogging tools.
Early recognition and intervention can determine whether compromised calves recover or fall behind.
Proper care and early colostrum set beef-on-dairy calves up for success during their first journey.
New research shows calves fed waste milk develop different immune cell and cytokine profiles than those fed salable milk, even when clinical health appears similar.
Five years to the day after her father’s cows left, Mitzie Blanchard moved back to the family farm. The determined young woman raised a successful herd of cows and four sons who learned the true meaning of hard work.
A calf jacket can make winter easier but only if you know how to manage them.
Switching from milk replacer to whole milk can make financial sense, but it requires careful planning and management.
Preweaned calves need water to promote rumen development and convert solid feed to gain. A study by Provimi North America Inc. showed supplemental water is best delivered at body temperature in a nipple bottle.
Transporting calves long distances at young ages is a growing practice for U.S. dairies. They do it to seek ideal rearing conditions and maximize their animal capacity and labor force. A detailed and well-executed plan can make the process relatively seamless.
Experts say it’s time to feed colostrum according to quality not habit. When it comes to calf immunity, more volume isn’t always better.
Salmonella is challenging organism for calf operations, but the serotype Dublin is especially dangerous because of its unique hallmarks of multidrug resistance and ability to also cause severe illness in humans.
What if you had a crystal ball to help you choose the best nutrition program to achieve the optimal outcomes for your calves? With a new tool called CalfSim, much of that vision is now possible.
For decades, researchers have explored the influence of dam nutrition on offspring performance. Now, the dairy industry is taking a page from that book, exploring the intricacies of how and what we feed to dairy dams to improve the health and productivity of their calves, without sacrificing theirs.