04 January 2021

CALFCARE VIRTUAL WEEK - 18th to 21st January 2021

Animal Health Ireland (AHI) and Teagasc are working together to run their annual series of CalfCare events this month. This time however they are going virtual and covering a wider range of topics relating to calf health. CalfCare Virtual Week runs from Monday, 18th until Thursday, 21st January 2021. The events will comprise a combination of webinars, videos, podcasts and supporting newspaper articles.

Animal Health Ireland (AHI) and Teagasc are working together to run their annual series of CalfCare events this month.

According to David Graham of Animal Health Ireland, ‘The areas to be covered during this important week are of importance to both dairy and beef farmers as they prepare to implement high standards of calf health and welfare on their farms across spring 2021. The range of topics to be covered include preparing for the calving season with practical tips, calf housing, colostrum management, vaccinating the pregnant cow, calf health and feeding’.

Speaking in advance of the upcoming CalfCare Virtual Week, Stuart Childs, Dairy Specialist with Teagasc, said: ‘With over 1.6 million calves expected to arrive on beef and dairy farms by the end of April 2021, spring has become an increasingly intense part of the farming calendar. Heightened awareness of calf health has resulted in improved standards and increased survival rates reported from dairy and beef farms nationally. The purpose of CalfCare Virtual Week is to remind dairy and beef farmers of the key practices necessary to maintain those standards in the busy spring period’.

‘The principle of having a calf per cow per year is the cornerstone of profitable suckler farming. The care of the cow in last 2 months of pregnancy and management around calving are key areas where suckler farmers can really push towards this goal. These videos and webinars are a timely reminder of what needs to be done to ensure a live, healthy suckler calf, while also focussing on the important factors in rearing bought in calves,’ said Martina Harrington, Cattle Specialist with Teagasc.

The CalfCare videos will be available each day through Social Media and AHI and Teagasc websites.

Day	Topics	Communication Channels
Monday, 18^th January	Preparing for calving Calf housing	A webinar at 7.30pm with experts present to answer your questions on these topics. Videos released after the webinar DairyEdge podcast on following days videos broadcast
Tuesday, 19^th January	1,2,3 of colostrum management Assessing colostrum quality Managing Johne’s disease at calving.	Videos released during the afternoon.
Wednesday, 20^th January	Vaccinating the pregnant cow Common diseases of the young calf Treating the scouring calf.	A webinar at 7.30pm with experts present to answer your questions on these topics. Videos released after the webinar BeefEdge podcast on following days videos broadcast
Thursday, 21^st January	Milk feeding the young calf Solids nutrition of the young calf	Videos released during the afternoon.

For more information, see the AHI and Teagasc websites or watch out for updates on Social Media.

End