Starting Strong – Calf Care

For 27 years, the Center for Dairy Research (CDR) has developed innovative strategies to move milk – and its many components – up the value chain. “Our goal is to ultimately help the dairy farmer,” said Dean Sommer, CDR cheese and food technologist. CDR focuses on research, training, outreach and product development in many areas

By Dr. Noah Litherland, Vita Plus dairy youngstock technical specialist As February draws to a close, we’re optimistic that warmer spring months are just around the corner.  But, realistically, we may still deal with a few more weeks of winter.  Here’s a quick reminder of the top calf needs in cool weather: Haircoat The calf’s

By Dr. Noah Litherland, Vita Plus dairy youngstock technical specialist When walking through calf barns and hutches during the winter, it is somewhat difficult to differentiate sickness behavior from cold stress behavior.  Interestingly, calf behaviors are quite similar when they are struggling with a disease challenge and when they are battling cold weather.  In young

By Sonia Gelsinger, Pennsylvania State University Ph.D. student We all know how important a balanced ration is for maintaining cow health and optimizing milk production. High quality nutrition is equally important for the calves that will eventually become part of the lactating herd. The gut of a young calf is still developing, so it requires

By Dr. Kevin Ratka, Vita Plus dairy technical sales specialist, and Dr. Owen Mickley, dairy specialist Question:  My herd has a high prevalence of Johne’s, so we've been using the Johne's vaccine in our herd.  Will that affect our ability to feed colostrum and milk to calves?  A:  For several reasons, Johne’s disease is very

By Dr. Kevin Ratka, Vita Plus dairy technical sales specialist Precision dairy is a buzz word in our industry.  With all the new technological advancements becoming available, producers can generate more data and information than ever.  This allows them to make better, more informed decisions to improve the profitability of their operations. I recently began

In this edition of Starting Strong, Katie Grinstead of Vir-Clar Farms in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin walks us through her newborn calf facilities and protocols.  Cleanliness and colostrum are two major priorities for Katie. Visit our YouTube channel for more segments of A Day in the Life of a Calf Raiser.

UW-Madison Dairy Farm Sets Practical Example for Calf Care If you’ve never visited a university research farm, you might envision state-of-the-art equipment and extreme precision in every task.  While that holds true in some respects – especially with certain research trials – the university farm does not greatly differ from the average dairy. The Emmons

Calf jackets are an easy way to help young animals take on cold weather.  Correctly fitting and adjusting these jackets is key to animal comfort and jacket effectiveness.  In this edition of Calf Chat, Ann Hoskins, Vita Plus calf products coordinator, walks through the basic steps of selecting and fitting a calf jacket.  Special thanks

By Ann Hoskins, Vita Plus calf products coordinator Every calf raiser has had that calf that is not quite ready to move to the next phase. What do you do with her? Do you still take her with the group?  In some cases, that may be fine, but, in other cases, she might fall behind

By Shawn Miller, Pagel’s Ponderosa Dairy calf manager My iPad has become one of the most important tools I use in raising calves.  Here are five apps I wouldn’t give up: WeatherBug This app tracks the daily weather and future forecast.  I use it to prepare for the weather and know how to adjust the

By Ann Hoskins, Vita Plus calf products coordinator Designing animal facilities can be challenging no matter the age of the animal. Here are a few key areas to focus on and suggestions to keep in mind as you design your facilities. Ventilation Ventilation can make or break the system quickly for animals of any age.

By Cody Yanzick, Vita Plus dairy specialist Calf raisers focus a lot on optimizing calf diets, but a solid heifer nutrition program is equally important.  Good feed management for weaned calves can keep that momentum going as heifers get older. Ingredient selection I like to incorporate some grass/alfalfa hay into the calf TMR as it

By Pat Hoffman, Vita Plus dairy technical specialist Winter issues of magazines and newsletters are stacking up and surely contain a number of articles in reference to feeding and managing dairy calves in winter. All of those comments are important and true; dairy calves are very sensitive to cold conditions.  Changes in feeding and management

By Dr. Al Schultz, Vita Plus vice president of technical services Question:  I want to have a good handle on what I’m feeding my calves, but feed tags can be difficult to understand.  What am I looking at and what do all the terms mean? A:  Every bag of commercial feed that is manufactured must

By Dr. Owen Mickley, Vita Plus dairy specialist What will winter have in store for us this year?  With last year’s brutally cold winter still fresh in our minds, are we prepared to deal with the winter challenges we’ll face this year? Let's go back to the basics as these fundamentals are key to our