Farming Talk: Calves facing their toughest fight to survive

Ever wanted to experience the peaks and troughs of life??Take up calf rearing! February generally represents a trough, with many calves dying during the colder months. The reasons are fourfold.

Cows giving birth have already been indoors for the entire dry period which can result in poor quality colostrum, particularly if dry cow nutrition has been neglected.

Heifers also tend to produce a lower quality colostrum. The sheds are beginning to build up a large number of pathogens which are just waiting to invade the newborn calves, and in addition, the high humidity and cold temperatures conspire to cause scours and pneumonia.

Research carried out under cold weather conditions in the USA reveals that when calves get only just enough energy for maintenance, their immune systems do not mature quickly enough to cope with infectious disease.

The lower critical temp (LCT) is the temperature at which calves begin to use energy in order to maintain body heat.

Calves under three weeks old have an LCT of 20C and this means that thay require 40 per cent more energy just for maintenance when the temperatures drop to 0C.

If you feel the calf's backbone at two to three weeks old and it is more prominent than in a newborn calf, your calves are using up body tissue to keep warm.

I offer the following practical advice to increase energy intake and reduce "chilling":

• Increase the volume of milk fed (preferably split into several small feeds)

• Increase the amount of milk powder in a given volume of water. Increase from 125g/litre up to 150g/litre

• Feed milk from fresh calved cows which is higher in milk solids for the first few days of life

• Use a high fat (20 per cent) calf milk replacer

• Offer warm water and highly palatable starter nuts to encourage extra dry feed intake

• Block off draughts at calf level

• Use ‘Woolover’ calf jackets on younger calves which are not yet ruminating, to conserve body heat and maintain good feed conversion

• Provide a warm DRY bed and a “nest” area

• Provide a heat lamp for sick calves

Gill Dickson is National Calf Specialist for Wynnstay.