Posted on December 21, 2016 in Starting Strong - Calf Care
By Lauryn Krentz, Vita Plus dairy specialist
It was an unseasonably warm fall with a fair amount of wet weather here in eastern Wisconsin. Many producers struggled in November because of varying temperatures and rain. Calves housed outside in hutches frequently had wet bedding and feed while those housed indoors experienced respiratory issues from the humidity and fluctuating temperatures. In calf and heifer barns with curtains, it was hard to know when to raise and lower the curtains to adjust for the rapidly changing weather. On top of this odd weather, farms without a dedicated calf team had limited time to focus on calves while they finished field work in the small windows of opportunity available to them.