Raising high quality heifers starts with calf program

BLACKSBURG, Va. — The goal for raising dairy calves is to develop the highest quality heifer that will maximize profits when it enters the milking herd.

“We need to manage calves with the same mindset we have with the lactating herd,” said Bob James, professor emeritus at Virginia Tech. “We want to feed calves better to achieve their potential for growth.”

The calf hutch has been the “gold standard” for raising calves, said James during a webinar hosted by Hoard’s Dairyman.

“You can minimize the shrink in liquid and dry feed, which is important because the feeds we offer to these young animals are very expensive on a unit of nutrient basis,” James said.

“There are some real benefits to calves housed in paired or group housing systems,” he said. “Calves start eating starter sooner because they learn from each other.”

In addition, calves in group housing respond better to novel situations like regrouping and new feeds, James said.

“They are more adaptable as heifers and cows,” he said. “And they are easier to wean because they have already been in groups, so we tend to see a less post-weaning slump than we see with calves housed individually.”

Ventilation and drainage become a lot more important with paired or group housing, and these systems require a different managerial skill set.

Several feeding options are available for calves in group housing, including mob feeders, acidified free choice feeders or auto feeders.

“The calf is almost sterile at birth, and it’s rapidly colonized by bacteria from the environment, dam, colostrum and the hands of the feeder,” James said. “Our objective is to establish the good bacteria and avoid the establishment of the undesirable bacteria.”

This is like a race between the bacteria in the environment and the initial feeding of the colostrum.

“We want to promote a desirable biome for the calves,” James said.

A study at Michigan State University included 22 calves that were all fed first milking colostrum within 20 minutes after birth. After the first feeding, half of the calves were shifted to milk replacer and the second group was fed transitional milk.

The researchers measured body weight for five days and then they measured health, intestinal growth and development.

“The calves that received the transition milk were healthier and they had better intestinal growth,” James said. “They had double the villus length and width and higher average daily gains after only five days. They also had improved cough, fecal, nose and ear scores.”

A study at Virginia Tech evaluated feeding the cow’s colostrum to her calf.

“The calves were fed fresh or flash frozen colostrum, which kills the maternal leukocytes,” the university professor said.

“The calves that got the flash frozen colostrum had fewer B lymphocytes a month after vaccination and they had decreased immune development than the calves that received fresh colostrum.”

Colostrum must be clean, James said.

“I want to milk the fresh cow as soon as possible after calving and I want to sanitize the milking equipment and storage vessels,” he said. “I also want to cool or feed the colostrum as soon as possible.”

If there is a risk of infectious disease at the farm, James recommends pasteurizing the colostrum.

“If you can feed the transition milk to the youngest calves as long as possible, there is a real potential benefit,” he said. “I’ve worked with farms that have built a system that enables them to achieve that, but it takes planning and a commitment to excellence.”

A 100-pound calf needs more than one gallon of milk to meet its maintenance requirements at 32 degrees.

“That doesn’t leave anything for growth,” he said. “When we limit feed animals, we put the youngest calves at a serious disadvantage.”

Calves don’t eat much starter until four weeks of age, James said.

“Their maintenance requirements are higher because they lose body heat more quickly,” he said. “I want to see calves gaining weight by the second week of life.”

A research project in New York evaluated the cost of raising heifers by stage of growth.

“For the stage of birth to 200 pounds, that was 15% of the total cost and 8% of the total growth,” he said. “These calves are very efficient at growing during that period of time.”

The calf stage also has a significant effect on respiratory disease, James said, and some of it can be permanent.

“Research show there’s an influence on mammary development, so this is a high risk time and an opportunity for high benefits by making a better investment,” he said.

“The essentials for calf management include a team of feeders, managers, veterinarian and industry partners, so everyone is pulling in the same direction,” he said. “If the feeder notices something, transfer that information to the manager on a timely basis.”

Very few farms weigh calves at birth and weaning, James said.

“That is one thing we need to work towards.”