Calf rearing is ongoing on autumn-calving herds, with batches of heifer calves continuing to be weaned off milk replacer from 85-100kg liveweight at 10 to 12 weeks of age. Heifer calves are future milking cows and putting the effort into rearing them allows targets to be hit down the line, with the main one being calving down before 24 months of age.

Heifer rearing is easier to manage in herds with a tight calving profile as heifers are born within a short period and are in a uniform batch. Getting as many eligible cows in-calf as early in the breeding season as possible and not breeding replacements from late calvers will make heifer rearing easier next year.

Although it is an important task, calf rearing can be labour-intensive, and thought should be put into how to make time spent in the calf shed as efficient as possible. It is usually the case that labour-saving systems can be implemented easier and cheaper than labour-saving technologies.

Spring-calving programme farmers are thinking about this now and are beginning to get accommodation ready for calving next year. Washing, disinfecting and bedding should be carried out well in advance and not rushed in the run-up to calving. Good hygiene during calving, sufficient colostrum intakes, good air movement in calf accommodation with no draughts are key to preventing scours and pneumonia.

Tracking growth through periodic weighing of heifers allows poorer performing calves to be recognised. Potential health problems can then be identified, or lighter calves can be grouped separately and given increased concentrates to push on growth.

We have 56 replacement heifer calves on the ground and 151 cows have calved so far this autumn, with 26 left to go. Replacement heifer calf births range from 1 September to 12 November, although the majority are September- and October-born, with only three born in November.

All bull calves and beef-bred heifer calves from later-calving cows are sold off two weeks after birth. There were three calves that either died at birth, or were born dead. There have been no mortalities this year to date.

My wife Heather looks after most of the calf-rearing work on the farm. Calves have a birth weight of around 35-40kg and are fed four litres (10% of their birth weight) of colostrum through a stomach tube in the first few hours.

Calves get colostrum for the first three feeds and are on whole milk twice a day for the first week. Pooled milk is fed from cows that have tested negative for Johne’s. In the second week, calves get a mix of whole milk and milk replacer at a 50:50 ratio twice a day.

Heifer calves move on to once-a-day milk replacer after two weeks until weaning. Each calf gets 600g of milk replacer mixed with 2.5l of water per day.

Milk is fed warm in the morning as hot water is available from an Economy 7 storage heater. Milk is mixed in 45-gallon drums with an electric drill and beater and is bucketed into teat feeders on gates. Water, straw and concentrates are available to all calves.

Calves are in individual pens for the first two weeks then move into groups in straw-bedded pens. All the group pens are in a single row on a solid-floor shed with a wide passage. The shed layout means feeding milk is quite efficient, with the most labour-intensive jobs usually being feeding concentrates, filling racks with straw and bedding.

Target weaning weight is 90kg and generally calves reach this at 70 to 75 days old. By weaning, each calf has consumed around a bag and three quarters of milk powder and is eating 1-1.2kg of concentrate per day. Intakes of concentrates usually increase to 2kg per day shortly after milk is weaned off calves.

A rectal body temperature is initially taken of any calves that look dull and there have been no issues with scour so far this year. The last 50 cows to calve have been vaccinated for Rotavirus which helps keep a potential outbreak near the end of calving under control.

Questions raised after fodder purchased

We purchased maize silage and a clamp of grass silage early in the winter after calculating and revising a winter feed budget. Cows are also getting around 1.5kg more concentrates per day than last year. This is to reduce silage intakes but is also a response to a higher milk price.

The herd has been expanding in recent years and we have questioned if cow numbers have exceeded the land area with fodder stocks now tight. We are stocked at 2.0 cows/ha across the whole farm.

However, the main issue for us this year was reseeding 70 acres of an outfarm in May. It was initially grazed by heifers and the silage crop cut off this in August was light. Much more silage will come off this ground from next year onwards and there are no more areas of this size to reseed and take out of production during a single growing season.

The weather was also a significant issue. A drier autumn would have allowed more grass to be baled and for stock to stay at grass longer, instead of eating into silage stocks early.