Calf Talk

December, 2005

Volume 11, No. 12

DON’T CHILL THE CALF

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 get it. Calves that are cold stressed can show depression, loss of appetite and have cold extremities. Conscientious calf raisers are putting calf blankets on the calves while transporting them from the dairy or sale barn. It helps to give the calf a good start. Veal barns are warm enough to keep the calf comfortable once he arrives at the barn.

Calves that are housed in cold buildings and hutches have to use calories from their feed to keep warm when the temperature drops below 50 degrees. Anything the manager can do to keep the calf clean, dry and comfortable will save money on feed.

Straw is probably the warmest bedding, and calves will cuddle down in the straw. Calf jackets are a big help. Good jackets are washable and can be used many times.

Feed more good quality milk replacer in cold weather. Hutch or other cold housed calves require 1% more milk replacer for each one degree drop in temperature below 32 degrees just to maintain body weight and keep warm. So at 0 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 per day in the extreme cold. Even though 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 water be provided.

Do not add a high fat product to the milk. The very young calf does not digest fat very efficiently. Fat contains more than three times as many calories as protein or carbohydrates, and that is why some nutritionists suggest high fat products in cold weather. But feeding the calf a product he cannot digest, just compounds the problem. Calves will scour from the 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 in the cold weather. But do it with a good quality milk replacer.

The calf gets more body heat from digesting grain than from a milk replacer, but the calf that is less than a month of age is not eating enough grain to meet his needs. Older, weaned animals get more heat from digesting roughage than from digesting grain. But, do not feed the calf hay until after weaning. The rumen must be well developed for the calf to digest the hay. The rumen papilla’s development is stimulated by volatile fatty acids which come from the digestion of grain and not from a “scratch” factor as formerly believed. So you have few choices with a calf less than a month old. Offer him grain, but give enough good quality milk replacer to meet his needs and keep him warm.

The use of deep straw bedding and calf blankets will go along way in keeping your calf healthy and gaining weight during the severe cold weather.

Contact information for ordering information and questions about our products:

Schnepper International, Inc.

3210 County B, Platteville, WI 53818

608-348-6141, Fax: 608-348-6146