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.
A massive question dairy producers often ask themselves is who should be raising replacement heifers. Should they be raised by the producer, contracted out and customed raised, or should they be purchased?
Each region of the U.S. presents its own challenges with raising calves, with the varying landscapes often dictating the layout of calf facilities.
In these tumultuous times of drought, global unrest, and supply chain disruptions, feed grains may not be as plentiful, available, and affordable as we have traditionally enjoyed.
The Cryptosporidium parasite is endemic to even the tidiest dairy farms, and is especially threatening to calf health. But it can be kept at bay in the calf management system with one simple and consistent approach.
It may not be a fancy cocktail, but accurate mixology is important for calf milk replacer, too.
We don’t feed dairy calves the way we used to, and that’s a very good thing, according to calf industry consultant Dave Kuehnel.
The heat is on, and calves feel it, too. Here are five strategies to help calves cope as summer sizzles on.
Individually housed calves can take up to two days to find feed and water when they are first comingled with others at weaning.
After a couple of years of shortages spurred by the pandemic, ear tags from Merck Animal Health are in full production and back up to pre-COVID production levels.
The younger consumers of today may not embrace meat consumption like previous generations, but they are more inclined to seek and pay for high quality. That’s good news for producers selling beef cross calves.
Calves and heifers aren’t as susceptible to heat stress as cows, but they do suffer from it to some degree, and their production is diminished as a result.
Dairy producers have adjusted to uncertainties that face them such as rising feed costs, ongoing labor challenges and navigating a pandemic and its ripple effect. Three producers share how they tackle uncertainties.
There’s a new equipment option for raising preweaned dairy calves, and it’s a far cry from the pocket-knife-slice approach of the past.
Raising heifers is expensive, to be sure. But in the long run, raising them right is far more important than raising them cheap.
What dietary supplements are best for preweaned calf rations? Out of the literally hundreds from which to choose, do any of them really work?
The Holstein breed is wrestling with the phenomenon of a newly identified genetic defect for Recumbency.
Precision dairy technology isn’t just for cows. Autofeeders, activity monitors, and other emerging tools are making it possible to raise calves with the type of individual attention received by the calves of yesterday.
Surplus dairy calves – those not intended for breeding – are their own, unique subset of the dairy industry.
Ask 10 dairy producers what they believe is an effective vaccination program for calves, and you’ll likely get 10 unique answers. That’s OK, because there is no effective one-size-fits-all strategy.
With drought and production costs pushing the native beef population to a record low, beef-on-dairy has a huge opportunity to keep the feedlots and processors at full capacity.
Most producers will tell you their No. 1 goal is simple: strive for cow comfort. That goal continues as dairies look to build a new barn or even retrofit an existing facility. The key is to begin with the end in mind.
Spring, summer and fall typically mean higher humidity and fluctuating temperatures. Milk replacer should be stored in areas with controlled temperature and humidity to prevent spoilage.
After incurring the investment to raise a heifer to freshening age, a difficult calving is the last thing you want as she attempts to enter the milking string.
What to watch for and how to cope with pneumonia in calves
Real-time monitoring of the environmental conditions for baby calves during transport would be highly beneficial to their comfort and health. Now, that task is becoming a possibility.
Acidification of milk or milk replacer is a common practice for some calf raisers, with some studies showing it improves weight gain and fecal scores in calves.
It may seem far-fetched and highly impractical in the U.S. But raising calves with their dams is happening at a growing pace on commercial dairies around the world.
Detecting respiratory disease in calves early – when treatment is most effective – should start by examining the head and facial features, according to veterinarian Tiago Tomazi with Merck Animal Health.
Heifers are the future of your milking herd. They need your attention and management. Remember, bigger is better, and to achieve that we need good feed management, reproduction and environment.
Maryland dairy farmer not only has a garden, she also has a garden to share. Visitors get more than an opportunity to pick flowers. They get to tour a dairy farm and be reminded of all the good that life has to offer.