Promote calf starter intake

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 20:11:16 +0000

This week's tip comes from a recent mini-seminar that featured DCHA senior advisor, John K. Bernard, PhD, PAS. During the discussion, Dr. Bernard, a professor in dairy nutrition at the University of Georgia, shared some insights on calf starter intake and growth standards for calves.

The Holstein calf growth standards, according to DCHA Gold Standards I, indicate that newborn calves should double their birth weight by 60 days of age. The target growth rate standards for Holstein calves are:

• 24 hours to 60 days of age: double birth weight
• 61 to 120 days of age: 2.2 lbs. average daily gain
  121 to 180 days of age: 2.0 lbs. average daily gain

According to Dr. Bernard, in order to meet these growth goals, calf starter is required to supplement the energy and protein provided by milk replacer. The rumen development is dependent on calf starter consumption. It is important to note that as calf starter intake increases, more nutrients are available to support growth.

Dr. Bernard indicated that there are several factors that can affect starter intake:

• Milk replacer feeding
•  Attention should be given to the amount fed and the fat content
• Type and quality of starter
• Textured versus pelleted Ingredient composition includes several factors including but not limited to those that are grain-based (corn or oats primarily): whole, cracked, rolled, or coarsely ground, a high quality protein supplement (SBM), containing less than 9% molasses and containing less than 4% fat.

In DCHA's Gold Standards I Nutrition section, there are recommendations structuring your nutrition program to achieve health and growth standards; be sure tomonitor performance regularly. Consult your veterinarian and nutritionist routinely. Additionally, clean water and starter grain should be offered to calves with continuous availability by 3 days of age, and refreshed or replenished daily.

Dr. Bernard also recommendedthe following as a guideline for Target Calf Starter Intake:

• Days 1-14- 0.12 lbs/d
• Days 15-21- 0.25 lbs/d
• Days 22-28 -0.50 lbs/d
• Days 29-35- 1.00 lbs/d
• Days 36-42 -2.00 lbs/d
• Days 43-60 -4.45 lbs/d
• Wean on the calendar (42 days of age) or when intake averages 2 lbs/d for 3 consecutive days.

For additional information on promoting calf starter intake, click here to review DCHA's Gold Standards I, sections III and V.

Calf nutrition - building block for future performance

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 21:08:00 +0000

This week's tip is brought to you by the beef checkoff-funded Beef Quality Assurance program.

The amount and quality of colostrum a calf receives within the first hours of life is the single most important management factor affecting the animal's well-being, growth, performance and profitability for the first six months of life and beyond.

Aside from being the only way to provide calves with necessary antibodies for immunity, colostrum also provides the necessary key vitamins A, D, and E, which help develop the immune system and set the stage for growth. Colostrum also contains antioxidants, a high fat content, white blood cells and essential amino acids - that are all very important to the initial health and growth of the calf.

Here are some tips for calf nutrition from birth to weaning:

• For colostrum, current best management practice is to feed two to preferably four quarts of colostrum within the first 1 to 2 hours of life, followed by two more feedings within the first 18 hours. The higher amount - four quarts - ensures that enough grams of antibodies are received by the majority of calves when the quality of the colostrum is unknown or mediocre.
• Reserve "first-milking" colostrum for first feedings of newborns as the concentrations of vitamins, nutrients and antibodies will be highest.
• Calves should be eating starter grain three weeks before weaning. That's about how long it takes for the starter grain to develop the rumen to where the calf is able to meet its nutritional requirements from dry feed.
• Calves should be eating 2 to 2.5 quarts (or pounds) of starter grain daily before weaning.
• During adverse weather conditions, calves will require increased nutrition.

Monitoring and supplying proper nutrition is essential in determining how the calves will grow, develop and perform later. For more information on calf nutrition visit the National Dairy Beef Quality Assurance manual, and for more details on colostrum management visit Gold Standards I.

DCHA's Gold Standards I Colostrum & Nutrition recommendations

Colostrum Management

A. First feeding
Colostrum equaling 10% of body weight should be fed in the first 2 hours of life. [For example, a 90-lb. calf should receive 4 quarts of colostrum.]

B. Colostrum quality
Colostrum should be free of blood, debris and mastitis
Colostrum should be disease-free
Test for quality with a colostrum tester or IgG test
Target bacteria count (also known as standard plate count) is <100,000 CFU/mL
Target immunity level of animals at 2 to 7 days of age is:
   a. blood serum total protein of >5.2 g/dL for maternal-source-colostrum-fed calves; or
   b. serum IgG of >10.0 g/L

Nutrition

A. Structure your nutrition program to achieve health and growth standards defined in II and III, and monitor performance regularly. Consult your veterinarian and nutritionist routinely.

B. Clean water and starter grain should be offered to calves with continuous availability by 3 days of age, and refreshed or replenished daily.

Monitoring and supplying proper nutrition is essential in determining how the calves will grow, develop and perform later. For more information on calf nutrition visit the National Dairy Beef Quality Assurance manual, and for more details on colostrum management visit, Gold Standards I.

Step up calf nutrition in cold weather

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 15:20:08 +0000

Brought to you by the Dairy Calf & Heifer Association - Sponsored by The Beef Checkoff 

Falling temperatures can compromise calf growth and health.

"At 68°F, whole milk will allow (a 90-pound calf) to gain about 0.75 pound per day,” says Robert Corbett, dairy veterinarian and nutritionist in Spring City, Utah.

However, if the temperature drops to 32°F, calf growth will suffer.

"Even on a whole milk program, which has a much better nutrient content than a 20:20 milk replacer, we still are going to have weight loss when we get down into freezing conditions,” Corbett said during a recent Dairy Calf & Heifer Association webinar. (Click here to view complete webinar.)

Work with a consulting nutritionist to adjust the solids content of milk/milk replacer to accommodate weather conditions and calf growth.

According to new Gold Standards III from DCHA, pre-calves should receive enough clean milk or milk replacer to meet or exceed health and growth goals defined in the Gold Standards I for Holstein calves from birth to 6 months of age.

Additional guidelines for feeding the pre-weaned calf can be found in the Gold Standards I and the Gold Standards III.

Dairy Animal Care & Quality Assurance is a voluntary, national certification program intended to enhance and demonstrate quality animal care practices, which assure food safety, quality and value as well as enhance consumer confidence in the milk and beef products that are harvested from cattle on America's dairy farms.

The Dairy Calf & Heifer Association is the only national association dedicated to serving the dairy calf and heifer industry. For more information about DCHA and the Gold Standards, visit www.calfandheifer.org or call 877-HEIFERS.

Colostrum — an opportunity to add value

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 15:14:50 +0000

Funded by the Beef Checkoff

Colostrum intake not only impacts calf health, but it also is an opportunity to add value to dairy beef.

"(In beef cattle, we know that) if they don't get adequate passive immune transfer when they're born, they can have reduced weaning weight — up to a 30-40 pound reduction in weaning weight,” says Amy Radunz, state beef cattle extension specialist with the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Performance in the feedlot also suffers, and animals have higher morbidity and mortality rates, Radunz said at the 2011 Dairy Calf & Heifer Conference.

Making sure dairy calves receive a sufficient quantity of high-quality colostrum at birth is an important component of the Dairy Animal Care & Quality Assurance (DACQA) program and DCHA's Gold Standards I.

The DACQA manual states: "The amount and quality of colostrum a calf receives within the first hours of life is universally agreed to be the single most important management factor affecting the animal's well-being as demonstrated by calf mortality and treatment costs as well as growth, performance, and profitability for the first six months of life … and beyond.”

DACQA recommends that all calves receive 2 to preferably 4 quarts of colostrum within the first 1 to 2 hours of life, followed by 2 more feedings within the first 18 hours, which is comparable to DCHA's Gold Standards I recommendations that the first feeding includes high-quality colostrum; for example, a 90-lb calf should receive 4 quarts of colostrum.

Calves also rely on colostrum for the vitamins that help develop the immune system and set the stage for growth.

DACQA is a voluntary, national certification program intended to enhance and demonstrate quality animal care practices, which assure food safety, quality and value as well as enhance consumer confidence in the milk and beef products that are harvested from cattle on America's dairy farms.

Study finds major flaws in colostrum management

Thu, 29 Sep 2011 22:03:40 +0000

California State University research suggests there are major variations in colostrum antibody concentrations and bacteria levels on farm.

Researchers collected colostrum samples from seven central California dairies. Herd size ranged from 800 to 4,000 cows. The researchers collected the samples prior to first feeding. Three of the seven dairies added a colostrum supplement to the maternal colostrum. On those dairies, researchers collected one sample before adding the supplement and one sample after supplementation.

Here are some key findings from the study:

• Average IgG concentration of colostrum fed was 35.96 mg/ml, with a range of 0.45 to 114.94 mg/ml. 
• Individual farm average IgG concentrations varied from 21.2 to 47.21 mg/ml.
• On the three dairies that supplemented colostrum, average IgG concentrations before and after supplementation was: 45.39 and 47.21 mg/ml, 32.13 and 35.39 mg/ml, and 27.2 and 37.07 mg/ml, respectively.
• Bacterial levels in the colostrum samples ranged from 13,420 to about 2.2 million colony forming units per milliliter (cfu/ml.) 
• A total of 41 out of 234 (~18%) samples of the non-supplemented colostrum were considered contaminated with bacteria (levels exceeded 100,000 cfu/ml.)
• A total of 179 out of 312 (~57%) samples of the supplemented colostrum were contaminated with bacteria (levels exceeded 100,000 cfu/ml.)
• About 220 (~40%) of the 546 calves in the study were fed contaminated colostrum.

The research suggests there is certainly room for improvement in the management of colostrum fed on-farm.

The research was presented at the 2011 Joint Annual Meeting of the American Dairy Science Association and the American Society of Animal Science.

Learn more about good colostrum management and goals for bacterial contamination of colostrum in the Gold Standards I.