Starting Strong – Calf Care

By Noah Litherland, Ph.D. | Whether you are thinking about building a new youngstock facility or renovating an existing facility, the following features can increase the functionality of the barn for both calves and calf caretakers.

When Mike and Tim Wettstein of Level-Vu Acres in Cambellsport, Wisconsin, built a new freestall barn for their heifers a few years ago, they had an opportunity to experiment with a new system to raise their preweaned calves and young heifers. The result is group housing that is easier to clean and manage.

Bethany Dado-Senn, Ph.D. | Watch this video to see how Kendra Agachi's "Lazy Genius" approach can help you prioritize, focus on, and improve your calf care management.

By Noah Litherland, Ph.D. | When building or updating heifer facilities, producers must choose what feed barrier(s) to incorporate into the heifer pens. Consider these questions to help you identify the best option for your heifers and management system.

By Lucas Mitchell, Ph.D. | “What age should calves be weaned off milk or milk replacer and how should that process look?” The answer - albeit an unsatisfying one - is that it depends. These steps contain key considerations that will help ensure a successful weaning strategy for your farm.

By Bethany Dado-Senn, Ph.D. | Of all the animals on your dairy farm, calves are the most susceptible to cold stress and require the most attention when facing winter weather. Fortunately, these tools can help you efficiently and strategically keep calves warm throughout the winter months.

By Dr. Noah Litherland, Ph.D. | A quality milk replacer starts with quality ingredients. This article identifies common milk replacer ingredients and their functions.

Mitch Breunig is focused on raising great calves and heifers at Mystic Valley Dairy LLC in Sauk City, Wisconsin, and he embraces new research and technologies to help his team achieve that goal. The farm’s commitment to excellence allows it to sell about 150 replacement heifers each year.

Dr. Bethany Dado-Senn | If your farm has a seasonal decrease in colostrum production across the late-fall and early-winter months, the following proactive steps can help you maintain a constant supply of high-quality colostrum for your valuable replacement herd.

Dr. Lucas Mitchell | While there is no universal growth target for weaned heifers, farmers should take the time to develop target growth goals for their weaned heifers because, if they don’t, they may be unintentionally losing first-lactation milk.

In this segment, Dr. Noah Litherland describes how rail-feeding systems and group pens are successfully used to raise preweaned calves.

Dr. Trey Gellert | One-day-old dairy beef calves need to be set up for long-term success. Starting these calves with the end goal in mind will lead to mutually beneficial relationship for the producer and calf. In this second article of a two-part series on vaccinations, we discuss dairy beef respiratory vaccine protocols.

Felten Farms in St. Cloud, Wisconsin, milks about 400 cows and raises all its heifers onsite with mostly family labor. Eric Felten takes the lead on calf feeding and care. He said he began exploring ways to improve calf management a couple of years ago to increase the efficiency and performance in this area of the farm.

In this edition of Calf Chat, Dr. Lucas Mitchell shares the three critical components of an integrated pest management (IPM) plan to reduce flies - and the stress and disease they can cause - in your youngstock operation.

Dr. Noah Litherland | Observing the behavior of recently weaned calves can help you judge whether your weaning program is on point or if a few adjustments will reduce stress (and maintain performance) in these young animals.

Dr. Bethany Dado-Senn | The latest concern and next frontier for dairy cattle environmental management is the mitigation of heat stress in youngstock. This has been particularly apparent the past few weeks as most of the Midwest has seen multiple heat waves. If you’re looking to provide heat stress abatement to your calves or heifers, here are a few options you might consider.