chapter
Section 6
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23
Calf
Nutrition
by Mark McGee, Siobhan Kavanagh, Emer Kennedy
Introduction
Whether from the suckler herd, or the dairy herd, a good start
is essential for calves.
1 What are the nutritional needs of the suckler calf from birth to weaning?
2 What are the key issues in feeding artificially reared dairy-bred calves?
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1 What are the nutritional needs of the
suckler calf from birth to weaning?
•Assoonaspossibleafterbirththecalfmustreceive
colostrumorfirstmilk,whichsuppliesthenutrients
neededforsurvival.Aswellasbeingasourceofnutrients
colostrumcontainsimmunoglobulinsorantibodies,which
areessentialtothesurvivalandhealthofthecalf.
•Milkyieldofthecowistheprimarynutrientsourceforthe
suckledcalfduringthefirstfewmonthsoflife.Milkyield
ishigherforbeefxdairybreedcowsthanbeefxbeef
breedcows.Duetotheiroriginssomebeefbreeds,such
asSimmental,havearelativelyhighmilkyield,butthere
islargevariationinmilkproductionwithinallbreeds.Young
cows,particularlyfirst-calvers,generallyhavelowermilk
yieldthanmaturecows.Lactationcurvesofsucklercows
arerelativelyflat–theirmilkyieldisrelativelyconstant.
•Calvessucklingcowswithhighermilkyieldgrowfaster
thanthosesucklingcowswithlowermilkyield.Thelower
themilksupplyfromthecow,thehighertheintakeof
grassbythecalf,buttheincreaseingrassconsumption
usuallycannotcompensatefullyforarestrictioninmilk
supplyandtherefore,calfgrowthrateislower.
•Ascalvesgrow,andtheirdam’smilkyieldisstaticorstarts
todecline,theyeatmoregrass.
•Inordertomeetcalfgrowthpotentialandweaningweight
targets,“creepfeeding”mealand/or“creepgrazing”the
calfcanbeusedtocompensateforalackofmilk
producedbythecowand/ordeficienciesingrasssupply
orquality.
• Creepfeedingresultsinanincreaseindry
matter/nutrientintakedespiteadecreaseingrass
intake,andconsequently,increasesingrowthrate.
Calfgrowthresponsetocreepfeedingishigherwhen
cowmilkyieldislower,whengrasssupplyisinadequate
andwhengrassqualityispoor.
• Similarly,calfgrowthresponsetocreepgrazingisa
functionofcowmilkyield,andgrasssupplyandquality
wherethecowsaregrazing.
•Underthe“Animalwelfare,recordingandbreeding
schemeforsucklerherds”(SucklerWelfareScheme),
supplementaryconcentratefeedingforfourweeks
pre-weaningiscompulsory.
•Malecalvesareheavieratbirthandgrowfaster
pre-weaning(~+0.1kg/day)thanfemales.
•Thelimitedcapacityofthesucklercalftocompensate
post-weaningforgrowthsetbacksexperienced
pre-weaningduetoinsufficientmilk,meansthatlive
weightdifferencesatweaningarelargelyretained
untilslaughter.
Key fact
The suckled calf receives nearly all its
nutrition from the cow for the first three
months of life.
“
chapter
36
Calf
Nutrition
“
Key targets
Pre-weaningdailyliveweightgain(notincludingcreep
feeding).Calvesfrom:
BeefxDairycows:
•Males=~1.15-1.30+kg; Females=~1.05+kg
BeefxBeefcows:
•Males=~1.05-1.20+kg; Females=~0.95+kg
2 What are the key issues in feeding
artificially reared dairy-bred calves?
Key Target
Target live weight gain pre-weaning of
0.5-0.6 kg / day
How to
Decide how much liquid feed the calf
should be offered
•Thecalfshouldreceiveatleast13-15%ofthecalfbirth
weightinwholemilkorgoodqualitymilkreplacermixedat
125grams/litreofwater.
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•Calvesshouldgetliquidfeedtwiceadayuntiltheyareat
leastthreeweeksofage.
•Topromotegrowthaimforacrudeproteinlevelof
22-25%.
•Nipplefeedingismorenaturalandtendstosatisfythe
sucklingurgebutfeedingmethoddoesnothaveamajor
effectonweightgain.
•Fatsourcesshouldbehighlydigestibleandpreserved
withanantioxidant.
ExamplesofFeedingRatesforDifferentBreeds
Breed
Holstein,Friesian, HFx
Jersey
HFxNorwegian JerseyCross
RedCross
Averagebirth
37-40kg
32kg
28kg
weight
Minimum
5litres
4.5litres 4.0litres
Volumesfed/
dayuptoday5
Minimum
6.0litres
5.0litres 4.5litres
Volumesfed/
dayafterday5
Key risk
!
•Wholemilkisthenaturalfollow-onfromcolostrumbut
• Milkfromcowsthatareunderantibiotictreatment
(includingformastitis)shouldnotbefedtocalves.
• Milkwithahighbacterialcontamination,e.g.highSCC,
riskofJohne’sdisease,salmonellaandE. coli,should
onlybefedtocalvesafterpasteurisation
• Ideallymilkfromthefirsteightmilkingsshouldbe
pasteurisedandchilledbeforefeedingtocalves
Milkfromcowstreatedwithantibiotics,andstillwithinthe
withdrawalperiod,shouldneverbefedtocalvesasitcan
affectthetasteofthemilkleadingtocalvesnotdrinkingas
muchmilk,withresultantlowerweightgains.But,more
importantlybacteriathatareresistanttotheseantibioticscan
developandifanimalsneedtobetreatedwiththese
antibioticstheymaynotworkaseffectively.
•Crudefibrelevelsabove0.15%canbeindicativeof
plantproteins.Avoidhighcrudefibrelevels.
•Targetashcontentof6.5-7.5%
How to
Decide how much concentrate to feed
Intakeofconcentratesisthesinglemostimportantfactorin
thedevelopmentofthecalf’sstomach
•Useahighspecificationcalfration.Targetenergydensity
=0.95UFL,crudeproteincontent=18%,balanced
forminerals.
•Acoarserationwillstimulaterumendevelopment
andcalveswillstartto‘chewthecud’.Avoidfinely
groundfeeds
•Additivesarenosubstituteforgoodfeedingmanagement.
Calvesshouldhaveaccesstoclean,palatablestarter
concentratesfrom4-7daysold.Onlyoffersmall
quantitiesoffreshfeedeveryday,asthiswillreducewaste
•Calvesfedcoarsestarterconcentrateseatmoreandhave
higherweightgainsthancalvesfedpelletedstarters
•Afterafewweekspelletedstarterscanbegradually
introduced.
Alternatives
Roughage
•Theconcentratefeedissignificantlymoreimportant
thantheroughagetodevelopthecalf’sstomach.
Checklist
Milk replacer?
•Calvesneedsmallquantitiesofroughage–hayorstraw.
Thisismoreimportantiffeedingapelletedration.
•Thereissignificantvariationinqualityofmilkreplacers. Yougenerallygetwhatyoupayfor.
•Avoidfeedingtoomuch.Itcanresultinapotbelly.
Thereisagreaterriskofthiswithovereatingofhay.
•Agoodqualitymilkreplacershouldpreferablycontainonly
milkderivedproteinsources.
•Wherepotbellies(orhaybellies)areobserveditindicates
thattherumenispackedwithhaywhichcannotbe
digestedproperly
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Nutrition
Key Question
Is water important?
?
•Waterisimportantforrumendevelopment.Cleanwater
shouldbeofferedatalltimes.Milkisnotasubstitutefor
freeaccesstowater.
•Aclean,freshsupplyofwatershouldbeofferedfrom
3-4daysofage
How to
wean calves.
•Weancalvesatleast80kgliveweightwhenthecalf
isconsumingatleast1kgofconcentratesperday.
•Calvesthathaveaccesstoconcentratesfromthesecond
weekoflifeandareofferedtheminimalrequiredvolumes
ofmilkwillusuallyeat1kgofstarterconcentratesfrom
approximately8weeksofage.
•Ifcalvesthatareofferednearadlibitummilk,gradual
weaningshouldnotbeginbeforeweek12.
•Inweaning,graduallyreducethevolumefedoveraperiod
of7-10days.Calvesfedtwiceadayshouldbereducedto
once-a-daybeforeweaning.
•Whenweaningcalvesaimforauniformgroupasitmakes
post-weaningmanagementeasier.Ageshouldnotbean
importantfactoratweaning.
•Increasingtheweaningweightastheseasonprogresses
canhelpavoidhavingagroupofsmallcalvesinaddition
tothelargerearlier-weanedcalves.
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