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.

If protocols are simple, they are more likely to be done correctly. That’s the philosophy the calf program at Cam-Cal-Kar Dairy Farm in Browntown, Wisconsin, has followed to raise bigger, healthier calves.

In this edition of Calf Chat, Dr. Noah Litherland discusses the effects dry cow heat stress has on calf health and performance.

In this edition of A Day in the Life of a Calf Raiser, Jill Houin walks through Homestead Dairy's summer calf management protocols and how the farm combats heat stress.

By Dr. Lucas Mitchell, Vita Plus calf and heifer specialist
Many calf growers do a great job tracking preweaned calf growth, however, this tends to go by the wayside after weaning. These "forgotten months" could potentially lead to some disappointing heifers when it comes time for breeding.

By Brandon Scharping, Lena Veterinary Clinic
Pink eye is a painful disease for livestock and a frustrating disease for cattle producers. Although prevention can be difficult, various preventative health and management factors can reduce the risk of pink eye in your herd.

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.

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.

The team at Finger Family Farm, LLC in Peshtigo, Wisconsin, is focused on using practical strategies to raise strong and healthy calves, which has allowed them to raise only the heifers they need and control heifer-raising costs.

In this edition of Calf Chat, Ann Hoskins demonstrates how to properly mix colostrum replacer and introduces the new Vita Plus SerPass 150 and 200 colostrum replacers.

In this edition of A Day in the Life of a Calf Raiser, Jill Houin discusses the automatic and manual cleaning protocols for Homestead Dairy’s autofeeders.

By Dr. Noah Litherland, Vita Plus dairy youngstock technical specialist
Many calf colostrum replacers are available on the market. Keep these seven considerations in mind when choosing the right colostrum replacer for your program. 

By Dr. Kevin Ratka, Vita Plus dairy specialist
When it comes to colostrum quality, it is not only the amount of antibodies present in the colostrum that matters, but also the hygiene of the colostrum being fed. Colostrum needs to be clean to achieve healthy calves.

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.

Using a Camelbak brush to clean esophageal feeder tubes has made life easier for the team at Schilling Farms LLC.

The team at Homeland Dairy LLP in Brandon, Wisconsin, operates by the KISS principle:  Keep It Simple and Straightforward.  That philosophy has led to outstanding calf health and performance.