From Birth to Breeding
While this is a simple, non in-depth overview of dairy calf rearing, it gives producers an idea of the general concepts needed to produce high quality, high producing future dairy cows. Raising dairy cows begins with simple preparation and a basic understanding of what is required of calves and what demands will be applied to them. First, a producer must ensure that cows have an adequate pen or box stall in which to calve. Though it is common practice for beef cows to calve in the pasture un-observed, the dairy industry has on average much more value placed on the cow calf pair and often will have better facilities in which to ensure proper calving.
Pens should be well lit and ventilated and a good non-slip base on the floor will help prevent injuries and udder trauma to the cow. The calving pens must be meticulously cleaned, this includes changing bedding and disinfecting the entire holding pen between each cow calf pair. This is extremely important as it is one of the most common areas for calves to acquire pathogens that lead to scours (Rota, Corona, E-Coli, Salmonella) or Johnes disease.
It is also a common place for cows, which will now begin their lactation, to acquire pathogens (E-Coli, Strep species, Klebsiella, etc.) leading to mastitis.
Intensive Management
After calving, it is time to attend to some of the calves' immediate needs. First priority among them is adequate colostrum intake. The importance of this step cannot be stressed enough as it is vital to the calves immune competency.
While calves in the beef industry are expected to obtain an adequate amount of colostrum by nursing themselves, often in the pasture, dairy calf management is much more intensive. A good rule of thumb is to give each calf one gallon of colostrum via tube feeder, (approximately 100g IgG). It is also a good practice to use colostrum from cows
that milk 20 pounds or less at first milking, or you risk the colostrum becoming to dilute, and the concentration of IgG’s becoming inadequate.
Disinfecting navels is also an important practice. Either tincture (7 percent) iodine or a chlorhexidine solution can be used for this purpose. A vitamin E and selenium injection can also be given at this time. Since dairy calves are removed from their mom on the day they are born, it is imperative to have a positive form of identification before they are removed from the cow and placed in separate housing.
Prevent Disease
There are a few vaccination options aimed at prevention of scours that are available to producers. Rota/corona virus vaccination is available to give directly after birth, or producers can vaccinate their cows late in gestation for rota/corona virus and E-coli. Unfortunately, these vaccines tend to give a false sense of security and other key management strategies can be ignored.
Efficacy of these vaccines are also not 100 percent and are more often aimed at limiting length of disease and or duration of disease. Other etiologies such as crypto should also not be overlooked. Producers have a few housing options for new calves. Calves will be removed from mom by day three and can be placed in hutches, cubicles, pens, etc. No matter what type is used, the basic concepts are the same. There should be no nose-to-nose contact. Individual feeders, bottles, waterers and buckets should be used, and each piece of equipment should be sterilized between calves.
An all-in/all-out system has been proven to be the most effective system to prevent disease. Nutrition for the first six weeks can include milk replacer
or dump milk. Producers must be aware that while dump milk can be economically sensible, Johnes, salmonella and other bacteria can be spread by this practice. Ad libitum creep feed and forage should also be available for the calf.
As They Grow
At six to eight weeks of age, the calves' milk diet can be replaced with a forage/ grain based diet and calves can now be housed in small groups. Vaccinations at this time can also be given and include the bovine respiratory disease complex. (IBR, BVD, PI3, and BRSV) as well as a clostridial 7-way.
At four to six months of age, these calves can now be on forage or pasture, as well as grain, or a TMR. Inoculations at this time include an OCV vaccine, another BRD complex vaccine (MLV preferred) and a clostridial 7-way that should be boostered in 30 days. A magnet may also be given at this time for hardware disease prevention.
Finally, at 12-15 months, they are at pre-breeding age. Calves should be approximately 700 pounds and 50” at the withers, with a BCS of approximately 3.5. Vaccinations include BRD vaccine, leptospirosis, vibriosis and clostridial 7-way vaccine.
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