Top tips for improving your calving setup

Top tips for improving your calving setup

Calving can be a stressful period fraught with danger but simple improvements every dairy and beef farm can make to their existing setup can minimise risk to the operator and the animal. Whether it is investing in a restraining yoke and gate for assisted calvings or...
Diarrhea: Treatment & Prevention

Diarrhea: Treatment & Prevention

Diarrhea can be caused by bacteria, viruses or parasites. Diarrhea can be caused by bacteria (E. coli, salmonella), viruses (rota, corona) or parasites (cryptosporidia, coccidia). Rota and corona infections, which generally occur during the first month of life, can in...
Water, Water Everywhere…

Water, Water Everywhere…

Fresh, clean water is critical to successful rumen development. An important part of the calf’s development is the ability of the rumen to ferment the concentrate and forage that it eats. This is termed rumen development, and is necessary before the calf can be...
Colostrum Feeding, How Much is Enough?

Colostrum Feeding, How Much is Enough?

The greatest risk occurs when the calf will receive too little colostrum, which puts the calf at great risk of disease and death. The traditional recommendation has been to feed 2 quarts of colostrum as soon as possible after birth and then again, 12 hours later. Is...
Colostrum Feeding, To Nurse or Not to Nurse.

Colostrum Feeding, To Nurse or Not to Nurse.

When a calf is born, a common question is whether to let the calf nurse the dam, or to separate the two and feed the calf with a nipple bottle or esophageal feeder. I’d like to suggest that allowing the calf to nurse the dam is a bad idea. Usually a very bad...