Watch: 'Back to basics' on calf care

Calf care – ranging from the initial nutrition of the newborn calf, calf housing and management at weanling – is not only essential to minimise disease during the calf rearing period, but it’s critical to ensure the future productivity of both dairy and dairy beef farms.

Animal Health Ireland and Teagasc, supported by Volac and in conjunction with the major dairy co-ops, ran a series of CalfCare events earlier this spring highlighting the importance of getting the basics right.

Niamh Lynch, dairy advisor in Teagasc, Navan gave an overview of feeding the young calf, highlighting the importance of early-life nutrition and the establishment of passive immunity, which can be achieved by following the ‘1,2,3’ rule, at one of the events. She also touched on the importance of using transition milk, especially between days two and five, before switching calves over to milk replacer or whole milk.

Fergal Maguire, DairyBeef 500 advisor, also highlighted the importance of ‘knowing your number’ when it comes to how many calves you can safely rear in your shed. He also highlighted the importance of developing relationships between dairy and beef farmers to create return customers for calves annually and to allow for the seamless movement of calves between both enterprises.

Health is one of the most important things on farm. So what are the common calf health issues that we have? Natascha Meunier, Animal Health Ireland, discussed how prevalent and problematic scours and pneumonia can be on Irish farms. “If we want to try and get to the bottom of this, ideally what we want to do is identify which animals are sick and treat them as soon as possible,” she explained. She also highlighted the importance of vaccination, as “prevention is better than cure when it comes to health”, and urged those attending the events to contact their vet to discuss appropriate solutions.

Catherine McAloon, member of the CalfCare Technical Working Group, also reviewed some the key points pertinent to weaning this spring, including: transitioning a calf from the pre-ruminant to the ruminant phase; weanling weight targets; and the important role concentrates and fresh water play in development of a functioning rumen.

Click here to access the 2023 CalfCare booklet.