Volume 9, No. 12
CALVES NEED SPECIAL CARE IN COLD WEATHER
By: Russ Schnepper, D.V.M.
Protect the calf from cold stress while transporting it. If you are picking calves up direct from the dairy, try to influence the dairyman not to chill the calf before you pick it up. Cold stressed calves can be depressed, anorexic, and have cold extremities.
I have observed baby calves being hauled in open trucks to the sale barn in 20 below zero weather. In one particular incident we purchased over 100 calves on that day. I thought it would be a disaster. However, we turned the heat up to 75 degrees in the barn and fed the calves warm milk as soon as they were placed in the stalls. With tender loving care, this group of calves responded well and we had no problems with them. So it proves my judgement is not always correct. But in most cases the calves would perform better without the added cold stress. Ordinarily Pasteurella multocida pneumonia follows a stress by 14 days.
Calves housed in cold buildings and hutches are probably warmest when bedded with deep straw. Calf jackets are also a big help. Jackets made with polar fleece are light weight and keep the calf warm. The blankets are washable.
Calves in a cold environment need more good quality milk replacer. One per cent more milk powder is needed for each one degree drop in temperature below 32 degrees just to maintain body weight and keep warm. So at zero degrees, you must increase the milk replacer by 32% and at 20 below zero, by 52%. It is best to feed three or four times daily in extreme cold. Even though the water freezes, the calves should be offered warm water shortly after feeding, so they can drink before it freezes. If you are mixing the milk replacer stronger (more powder with less water) it is even more important to provide free choice water.
A few feed companies have recommended adding extra fat to the milk in cold weather. The nutritionist makes this recommendation because fat contains over three times as many calories per pound as carbohydrates or protein. But the very young calf does not digest fat very efficiently. Feeding the calf a product it cannot digest, just compounds the problem. Calves will scour from the added fat product, making the calf all the more vulnerable to disease. Calves also hate change, so gradually work the calf up to the level you need for the cold weather. Sudden ration changes also produce an acidosis in the calf. The acidosis causes blood to seep into the lumen of the intestine and then the clostridial organisms that are already in the gut grow rapidly with the addition of blood. They produce toxins that are absorbed by the calf - producing Enterotoxemia, or toxic calves. We treat the toxic calves with oral penicillin and/or oral C & D Antitoxin.
Older, weaned calves produce more heat from digesting grain than from hay. So offer the calves good quality grain and adequate milk replacer. Use calf blankets and bed them with deep straw. Your calf will probably handle the cold better than you will.
Contact information for ordering information and questions about our products:
Schnepper International, Inc.
3162 County B, Platteville, WI 53818
608-348-6141, Fax: 608-348-6146
www.calfdoctor.com email: rschnep@mhtc.net