Whether you are operating a spring-calving suckler herd or running a dairy-calf-to-beef enterprise, calf health is one of the most important management tasks during the course of the spring.

Two of the greatest threats to calf health are neonatal calf diarrhoea (scour) and respiratory disease, mainly pneumonia.

While pre-calving management of the cow, umbilical care and colostrum management all have roles to play in newborn calf health, environment is undoubtedly one of the most important factors.

Environment

While speedy colostrum intake will reduce a calf's susceptibility, the challenge facing all farmers is still to limit a calf’s exposure to disease and infection. Treating a fresh naval with iodine also reduces risk of infection.

Ideally, where weather conditions allow, calves would be turned out as soon as possible following birth. This is the healthiest environment for a calf.

However, as farmers know all too well, getting calves out on a consistent basis during the spring is often hampered by poor weather. For that reason, it is vital to have suitable facilities, for more than just calving the cow.

As a guide, a farm should have one calving pen for every 10 cows to calve. Furthermore, I would like to have accommodation for at least another 30% of the total number of expected calves. This can often be achieved by creating creep areas adjacent to slatted pens.

Characteristics

A dry bed is essential for calf health. The young calf will spend up to 80% of its time lying down. A wet bed is a breeding ground for disease.

A dry bed of straw also significantly reduces the lower critical temperature, ie the temperature a calf can be exposed to before it must increase its metabolic rate to stay warm.

A dry bed of straw has a lower critical temperature of 8°C, whereas wet straw is in excess of 10°C and a concrete floor is up to 17°C.

The layer of bedding is also important. If bedding is sufficiently deep, the calf can ‘nest’ and trap a boundary layer of warm air around itself, which reduces the critical temperature further.

As a rule of thumb, a calf's legs should not be visible in the straw.

As calves grow, their lower critical temperature increases, allowing them to withstand lower temperatures without becoming stressed.

It is at this stage that the option to house on rubber mats (cubicle mats) dusted with sawdust can be considered.

Other considerations include floor gradient, which should be 1.20 to allow adequate drainage of floor moisture.

In terms of floor space, each calf requires approximately 1.5m3 of floor space. This means a standard 15ft 9in by 14ft pen is suitable for between six and eight calves.

Ventilation is the other key consideration to be given to calf housing. Guidelines suggest a cubic air capacity of 6m3 to 8m3/calf is sufficient. Furthermore, an air inlet and outlet allowance of 0.08m2/calf must be provided.