News
Back to Basics - Nutrition
The neonatal calf must be fed highly digestible feeds containing necessary levels of high-quality protein, energy, vitamins, and minerals. When quantifying how much we should be feeding our calves, we divide the requirements into three categories: maintenance, growth, and immunity.
Back to the Basics - Calf Housing
It may seem basic, and I hope it does, but the calf’s environment plays a HUGE role in the success of the pre-weaning period. A calf needs a dry, draft free area to call home. Easy access to water and feed is a must, and easy access for workers to provide individual care.
Goal Setting
Setting goals provides guidance and direction; facilitates planning, and motivates employees, allowing control and evaluation of performance. I encourage you to take time to define some goals of where you want to take your calf program this coming year!
2020 Year End Wrap Up
Here we are, the final day of the year 2020. This has been a year full of challenges for everyone. Although there have been many challenges, unprecedented times give us the opportunity to step back and to evaluate all we do. We are given the chance to focus on what is most important, and be creative in our processes as we set new goals and put protocols in place to achieve them.
Colostrum Replacer
In situations where enough clean high-quality colostrum is not available, or in situations where employees may struggle in processing colostrum in a clean and timely manner, farms may turn to feeding a colostrum replacer as the first meal, instead of maternal colostrum.