Here on our farm, the calving season is just beginning. Four cows calved over the weekend, so by next weekend we’ll be well into it. Last year we started calving in the middle of January and as the season moved on we realised it was that bit too early. It was hard to have enough grass in front of the cows.

This year, calving was delayed until the last week of January. The tension was wicked waiting for them to start. The next milestone will be to hear that milk tank purring.

I spent the last two Saturdays in the yard washing calf feeders and calf feeding equipment. With my gloved hands stuck in the big sink scrubbing plastic, I had plenty of time to contemplate the world. My world consisted of calf feeders, the season ahead and anticipation of rearing healthy calves that will meet all their targets.

Once the job was completed, I had lost all confidence in the engineers that design calf feeders. Obviously, it is a case of the designer never actually having to wash the feeders. I’m referring to the single and multi-teat feeders. Each year we replace the teats so they are cut off, leaving a container with six or 10 holes to be washed.

That’s all fine and straightforward. Then you come to the hooks that hang the feeder from the gate. The mechanisms are hard to get at and it requires extreme patience and poking with little brushes. Some of the hooks have a lattice-type design in the plastic with groves and holes that you’d get on designer lace. They are utterly impossible to wash properly. An extra bit of molten plastic would have filled these holes.

To the engineers of these things, I say wake up and think of what you are designing. A calf feeder, whatever the size, must be washable. Calves are vulnerable to disease and good hygiene is essential. Now, if the equipment is made in a way that parts are difficult to access and clean, you cannot be confident that no bacteria is lurking there. Engineers, take note.

POSITIVE FARMERS

We’re enthusiastic about the season ahead and we have great plans. Some eagerness is due to the fact that the three men – Tim, Philip and Colm – attended the positive farmers conference. To be fair, they came home positive. So, all week, I’ve been hearing snippets of information and discussion has been stimulated. They also brought home copies of the papers. They make interesting reading and come at an ideal time at the start of the season to remind us of the essentials.

The whole ethos is about “turning grass to cash”. Emer Kennedy and Riona Sayers from Teagasc, Moorepark, both delivered papers on behalf of teams of researchers. The topics were calf rearing and diseases of young stock. I’ve studied them carefully. I’m still learning even though I’ve been feeding calves for over 30 years.

This is my area of expertise and yet, after all these years, I do not feel an expert. Rules about feeding change all the time and disease threats mount every year. New research changes the game regularly. It is important to keep up with the new research findings. I’m full of enthusiasm now but the trick will be to maintain it and be as diligent with the care of the last calf born as with the first calf.

REMINDERS

Colostrum is the elixir of life for the newborn calf, protecting it against disease and viruses. We know this, but do we pay enough attention to its proper storage and optimising its potential to give immunity to the vulnerable baby calf?

This is what I take from Emer and her team. For optimum results, the calf must get 8.5% of their body weight (three litres approximately) in good-quality colostrum via a stomach tube within two hours of calving. After 24 hours, a calf can no longer absorb the immunoglobulins from the colostrum.

Once a cow calves, her colostrum begins to deteriorate, so the sooner she is milked the better the quality. It must be stored in a fridge immediately. So, timing is everything for that first feed. Getting it right adds a lot of work to the dairy farmer but it pays off in the health of the calf.

We are feeding the cows in the evening to encourage them to calve during the day. It worked well last year.

A startling figure, revealed by Emer, was that 25% of the female calves we rear on our farms never calve down themselves. We must work to change this and analyse the reasons on our own farms. This year we are starting a diary to record all calf rearing details. We can look at figures for past years but having the reasons takes more tracking.

ONE REARER

Ideally, there should be one dedicated calf rearer, but that is not the reality on most farms. I try to be there as much as possible but the fact is that there are four of us involved. I certainly have more patience for the babies and the washing. Daily washing of feeding equipment is essential.

Colm started a WhatsApp group for what he calls the Calf Care Group and each time the yard is checked, a cow calves, calves are fed, feeding rates changed and so on, the operator writes it up and we all get it. I still prefer to write it down on paper as well though.

So, here’s hoping for a good season ahead. Minimising loss is critical in a falling milk price scenario and controlling costs has to be to the forefront of our minds at all times.