Big crowds turned out for the AHI and Teagasc Calfcare event on Martin and Kevin Kennelly’s farm in Moyvane, Co Kerry, last week. The main message of the day was that for long term profitability, good calf health and welfare are essential.
Calf welfare
UCD vet Catherine Mc Aloon spoke about calf welfare, outlining the five key areas:
Providing adequate nutrition to calves.Providing an adequate and appropriate environment for calves.Good stockmanship, which can be defined as looking after and handling calves appropriately. That calves are managed in such a way that they can express normal behaviour.Ensuring adequate space is provided.Treating all calves with compassion and respect.These are all commonly in place on most dairy farms, but it’s no harm to ensure we keep up the high standard of calf welfare in this country.
So, how do we assess calf welfare on our own farms?
“Obviously the target on every farm is to have no calf mortality and to have to treat very little animals,” Catherine said.
But when do we know we have a calf welfare problem on our farm?
“Three percent mortality and 10% of calves treated are the cut-off points and if you are exceeding those on your farm, you have a problem. If so, you need to go back and assess the five key areas on your farm,” she added.
Catherine also made the point that the majority of samples sent from sick or dead calves to labs come back showing that the calves didn’t get sufficient colostrum.
The importance of getting 3l of colostrum into calves within two hours after birth has been highlighted a lot over the last few years and should be common knowledge on most farms.
However, for large herds where a number of people may be working on the farm, it’s important to ensure everyone is administering colostrum properly.
Setting up a SOP (standard operating procedure) at the start of the calving season can help ensure that every calf gets adequate colostrum within the specified time frame.
Catherine also made the point that calf welfare starts before the calf is born. Ensuring cows are in the correct body condition score and are getting the required pre-calving mineral will help to ensure better quality colostrum and healthier calves.
Housing
As mentioned before, adequate and appropriate housing is essential to good calf health. Teagasc dairy adviser Niall Kerins spoke about assessing your calf housing
The space requirement per calf is 1.7m2 and the air space requirement is 7m3 per calf.
So, by multiplying the length of your calf pens by the width and dividing it by 1.7m2, you will get the maximum amount of calves you can put in that pen.
By multiplying this amount by the average height of the calf shed and dividing it by 7m3 will get the maximum amount of calves that you can keep in that shed.
Exceeding these requirements will end up in damp bedding and poor air quality, which significantly increases the chance of disease in your young calves.
Draughts and good drainage are the other two areas that were highlighted. While we want air in our sheds, we don’t want draughts. Cold calves lead to sick calves.
Having a slope is a great way to keep calves on dry bedding, as effluent created can drain away.
Where floors aren’t sloped, there should be a strong emphasis on keeping the pens freshly bedded to ensure calves aren’t lying on damp bedding.
The other area that was discussed was options for farms where there wasn’t adequate housing for calves.
Calf hutches are an option for any farmer and group hutches that accommodate eight to 10 calves can be bought for €1,300 to €1,500.
With calf hutches, you still have to collect the effluent produced by the calves and a good place to position them if possible is on a silage slab, where there are already channels to collect effluent.
Calf nutrition
Colostrum needs to be of a certain quality to ensure calves are getting enough immunoglobulin into their system.
A Brix refractometer can be used to test colostrum quality and is a worthwhile investment on any farm.
By putting a few drops of colostrum on the refractometer you can assess the quality. Look for a value greater than 22%, which will indicate high-quality colostrum suitable for calves first feed.
Milk replacer quality was another topic of discussion, as was the importance of looking at what you’re buying. The protein content of the milk replacer is the main area to look at.
Milk replacers with a high level of vegetable protein should be avoided, as they are generally not very digestible for young calves.
Trials have shown the higher the crude protein content of the milk replacer, the higher the average daily weight gain of the calves.
Table 1 shows the key specifications required for a high quality milk replacer.
Make sure that milk replacer is mixed right, so that calves are getting the required nutrients.
In general, you are looking for a milk replacer concentration of 12.5% or 750g of milk replacer in the 6l being fed to a calf each day. Once you follow the guidelines on the bag, you should achieve this.
Your Brix refractometer can be used again here to test the concentration of your milk replacer.
Place a few drops of the milk replacer after it’s mixed on the refractometer and watch for a reading of 12.5%. If it is lower, you may not be adding enough milk replacer to the volume of water.
Health programme
The final area discussed was a health programme for calves. AHI vet Willie Buckley talked about the major causes of calf deaths and how to prevent them on farms.
The two major causes are infectious scours and respiratory diseases. Infectious scours are the biggest problem for calves in the first month of life and pneumonia the biggest problem in older calves.
Rotavirus/corona virus and cryptosporidium are the two major causes of scour on farms. Willie went on to say that rotavirus/corona virus is on most farms and the reason that it doesn’t affect some herds is that calves are in a good healthy environment getting the correct colostrum, with adequate housing and fed correctly.
Willie added that if you have a problem with the virus, you most certainly should vaccinate your animals against it. If your calf housing or colostrum management isn’t good, he would also advise vaccinating.
However, if you’ve never had a problem and in general have good calf care in place on your farm, it is optional and he suggested vaccinating as more of an insurance against the disease. 
Crytosporidium is the other major disease causing scour.
“There are only three things that we can do to try avoid a crytrosporidium outbreak and that is hygiene, hygiene and hygiene,” Willie said, adding that intensive washing and disinfection of housing before calving is critical.
Pneumonia was the next biggest problem with the health of calves.
Prevention is the most important thing when it comes to pneumonia and it all comes back to the housing conditions for calves.
Willie made the strong point that if your replacement heifer gets pneumonia as a calf, she will have a reduced milk yield in her first lactation, which really highlights the long term effects of calves getting pneumonia.
Big crowds turned out for the AHI and Teagasc Calfcare event on Martin and Kevin Kennelly’s farm in Moyvane, Co Kerry, last week. The main message of the day was that for long term profitability, good calf health and welfare are essential.
Calf welfare
UCD vet Catherine Mc Aloon spoke about calf welfare, outlining the five key areas:
Providing adequate nutrition to calves.Providing an adequate and appropriate environment for calves.Good stockmanship, which can be defined as looking after and handling calves appropriately. That calves are managed in such a way that they can express normal behaviour.Ensuring adequate space is provided.Treating all calves with compassion and respect.These are all commonly in place on most dairy farms, but it’s no harm to ensure we keep up the high standard of calf welfare in this country.
So, how do we assess calf welfare on our own farms?
“Obviously the target on every farm is to have no calf mortality and to have to treat very little animals,” Catherine said.
But when do we know we have a calf welfare problem on our farm?
“Three percent mortality and 10% of calves treated are the cut-off points and if you are exceeding those on your farm, you have a problem. If so, you need to go back and assess the five key areas on your farm,” she added.
Catherine also made the point that the majority of samples sent from sick or dead calves to labs come back showing that the calves didn’t get sufficient colostrum.
The importance of getting 3l of colostrum into calves within two hours after birth has been highlighted a lot over the last few years and should be common knowledge on most farms.
However, for large herds where a number of people may be working on the farm, it’s important to ensure everyone is administering colostrum properly.
Setting up a SOP (standard operating procedure) at the start of the calving season can help ensure that every calf gets adequate colostrum within the specified time frame.
Catherine also made the point that calf welfare starts before the calf is born. Ensuring cows are in the correct body condition score and are getting the required pre-calving mineral will help to ensure better quality colostrum and healthier calves.
Housing
As mentioned before, adequate and appropriate housing is essential to good calf health. Teagasc dairy adviser Niall Kerins spoke about assessing your calf housing
The space requirement per calf is 1.7m2 and the air space requirement is 7m3 per calf.
So, by multiplying the length of your calf pens by the width and dividing it by 1.7m2, you will get the maximum amount of calves you can put in that pen.
By multiplying this amount by the average height of the calf shed and dividing it by 7m3 will get the maximum amount of calves that you can keep in that shed.
Exceeding these requirements will end up in damp bedding and poor air quality, which significantly increases the chance of disease in your young calves.
Draughts and good drainage are the other two areas that were highlighted. While we want air in our sheds, we don’t want draughts. Cold calves lead to sick calves.
Having a slope is a great way to keep calves on dry bedding, as effluent created can drain away.
Where floors aren’t sloped, there should be a strong emphasis on keeping the pens freshly bedded to ensure calves aren’t lying on damp bedding.
The other area that was discussed was options for farms where there wasn’t adequate housing for calves.
Calf hutches are an option for any farmer and group hutches that accommodate eight to 10 calves can be bought for €1,300 to €1,500.
With calf hutches, you still have to collect the effluent produced by the calves and a good place to position them if possible is on a silage slab, where there are already channels to collect effluent.
Calf nutrition
Colostrum needs to be of a certain quality to ensure calves are getting enough immunoglobulin into their system.
A Brix refractometer can be used to test colostrum quality and is a worthwhile investment on any farm.
By putting a few drops of colostrum on the refractometer you can assess the quality. Look for a value greater than 22%, which will indicate high-quality colostrum suitable for calves first feed.
Milk replacer quality was another topic of discussion, as was the importance of looking at what you’re buying. The protein content of the milk replacer is the main area to look at.
Milk replacers with a high level of vegetable protein should be avoided, as they are generally not very digestible for young calves.
Trials have shown the higher the crude protein content of the milk replacer, the higher the average daily weight gain of the calves.
Table 1 shows the key specifications required for a high quality milk replacer.
Make sure that milk replacer is mixed right, so that calves are getting the required nutrients.
In general, you are looking for a milk replacer concentration of 12.5% or 750g of milk replacer in the 6l being fed to a calf each day. Once you follow the guidelines on the bag, you should achieve this.
Your Brix refractometer can be used again here to test the concentration of your milk replacer.
Place a few drops of the milk replacer after it’s mixed on the refractometer and watch for a reading of 12.5%. If it is lower, you may not be adding enough milk replacer to the volume of water.
Health programme
The final area discussed was a health programme for calves. AHI vet Willie Buckley talked about the major causes of calf deaths and how to prevent them on farms.
The two major causes are infectious scours and respiratory diseases. Infectious scours are the biggest problem for calves in the first month of life and pneumonia the biggest problem in older calves.
Rotavirus/corona virus and cryptosporidium are the two major causes of scour on farms. Willie went on to say that rotavirus/corona virus is on most farms and the reason that it doesn’t affect some herds is that calves are in a good healthy environment getting the correct colostrum, with adequate housing and fed correctly.
Willie added that if you have a problem with the virus, you most certainly should vaccinate your animals against it. If your calf housing or colostrum management isn’t good, he would also advise vaccinating.
However, if you’ve never had a problem and in general have good calf care in place on your farm, it is optional and he suggested vaccinating as more of an insurance against the disease.
Crytosporidium is the other major disease causing scour.
“There are only three things that we can do to try avoid a crytrosporidium outbreak and that is hygiene, hygiene and hygiene,” Willie said, adding that intensive washing and disinfection of housing before calving is critical.
Pneumonia was the next biggest problem with the health of calves.
Prevention is the most important thing when it comes to pneumonia and it all comes back to the housing conditions for calves.
Willie made the strong point that if your replacement heifer gets pneumonia as a calf, she will have a reduced milk yield in her first lactation, which really highlights the long term effects of calves getting pneumonia.
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