Posted on July 22, 2021 in Starting Strong - Calf Care
Hickory Lawn Dairy in Cascade, Wisconsin, developed a technique to track starter grain intake simply and effectively by placing a piece of tape on the door of each calf hutch. As starter grain intake increases, the calf manager circles the number of cups the calf should be fed daily.
Posted on March 2, 2021 in Starting Strong - Calf Care
In this edition of Calf Chat, Dr. Lucas Mitchell provides his spring calf care checklist to help calf raisers prepare equipment and facilities for the upcoming change in seasons.
Posted on March 2, 2021 in Starting Strong - Calf Care
The key to growing healthy calves is consistency. To help feed calves more consistently, the calf team at Wilbar Dairy started weighing water and milk replacer a few years ago.
Posted on January 26, 2021 in Starting Strong - Calf Care
By Donovan Nelson, Vita Plus quality assurance and formulation specialist
Quality calf feeds can’t be made without quality ingredients and manufacturing processes. Make sure your feed manufacturer has protocols like these in place to produce the excellent calf feed your calves deserve.
Posted on January 26, 2021 in Starting Strong - Calf Care
By Dave Chamberlin, Vita Plus swine technical sales manager, and Garrett Rozeboom, Vita Plus swine technical services manager
Although we focus on animals with only one stomach, many of the practices we use to manage pigs translate across species. These are our top five rules for managing ventilation in swine barns.
Posted on January 26, 2021 in Starting Strong - Calf Care
The team at Birchen Farms Inc. in Pearl City, Illinois, pre-fills condiment cups with iodine and stores the cups in buckets in the maternity area. Iodine is always ready and available when a newborn calf needs its navel dipped. The disposable cups prevent cross-contamination between calves.
Posted on November 12, 2020 in Starting Strong - Calf Care
By Ann Hoskins, Vita Plus calf products coordinator
As technology delivers more and more details, it’s easy to forget all the little things along the way. Here are eight things you should check to make sure your autofeeder is functioning properly.
Posted on September 18, 2020 in Starting Strong - Calf Care
It is critical to have water at the right temperature to clean equipment, mix milk or colostrum replacers, and feed calves. To assist with this task, Mark Buning of Buning Dairy LLC installed a water temperature valve on his water system.
Posted on July 28, 2020 in Starting Strong - Calf Care
By Ann Hoskins, Vita Plus calf products coordinator
When a pasteurizer is working properly, it will destroy 98% to 99% of bacteria. Follow these five steps to make sure your pasteurizer is doing the job you need it to do.
Posted on July 28, 2020 in Starting Strong - Calf Care
With Gar-Lin Dairy Farm’s group calf feeders, it was difficult to find a place to treat sick calves. As a result, they designed this calf treatment cart to make it easier to move and treat sick calves.
Posted on May 27, 2020 in Starting Strong - Calf Care
Refrigerated or frozen colostrum must be carefully thawed and warmed before it is fed to a calf to preserve immunoglobulins. Producers can easily build their own colostrum thawing and heating unit to accomplish this task.
Posted on November 13, 2019 in Starting Strong - Calf Care
In this edition of Calf Chat, Dr. Jenn Rowntree discusses the importance of walking through calf autofeeder pens, and calibrating and cleaning the machines regularly.