Starting Strong – Calf Care

Between 20 and 40 calves are born each day at Pagel’s Ponderosa Dairy, LLC in Kewaunee, Wisconsin. With exceptional animal care as a top priority on the farm, the team continually looks for opportunities to learn, evolve, and adopt new strategies to minimize stress – both for the animals and the employees – during each calving.

In this edition of Calf Chat, Noah Litherland, Ph.D., explains how olfaction can impact calves' reactions to their feed and environment.

By Bethany Dado-Senn, Ph.D., Vita Plus | Weather impacts a calf's environment as well as the nutrition and management strategies needed to maintain health and performance.

By Lucas Mitchell, Ph.D., Vita Plus | Carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamins, minerals and water are all absolutely necessary to produce a high-quality calf starter. Let’s explore the functions of these nutrients – and their inclusion in calf starter - in more detail.

By Ann Hoskins, Vita Plus | “Should I feed milk in bottles or pails?” The most honest answer is that I don’t care as long as it’s clean. This topic has long been debated and yet the body of research does not indicate clear superiority of one feeding method versus the other.  Bottles and pails each have their pros and cons.  Like so many things, the best fit depends on your farm’s unique facilities and management.

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.