DAIRY ST R
Calf & Heifer Special Edition Changing calf program reaps benets
March 23, 2019
Valley Hill Farm calving in rst group-raised heifers By Danielle Nauman danielle.n@dairystar.com
KENDALL, Wis. – What started as an idea to try out over two years ago is now reaping benets for Brian Friske and Jeannie Jones. In November 2016, the two made the decision to make dramatic changes in the calf-rearing program at Friske’s Valley Hill Farm near Kendall, Wis. Valley Hill Farm is home to about 60 Holstein and Jersey milk cows. Friske is the third generation of his family to operate the farm, and his daughter, Cylee, 13, is the fourth generation to help care for the family’s dairy herd. Jones, a long-time friend and neighbor of the Friske family, has been raising calves on Friske’s farm for the past ve years. She brought several cows into the herd with her when her family sold their cows. “I went to a couple of calf raising conferences and learned that statistically it’s being found that raising calves in groups is the way to go,” Jones said. “That goes against everything we were raised with, that you shouldn’t ever let the calves come in contact with each other.” While Friske and Jones were intrigued with the ideas gained from the conferences, they were still hesitant to jump into a management system that went against everything they had
DANIELLE NAUMAN/DAIRY STAR
Brian Friske (from leŌ) and his daughter, Cylee, along with Jeannie Jones, stand next to a group of 2-year-old cows at Valley Hill Farm near Kendall, Wis. They transiƟoned the 60-cow farm’s calf raising program just over two years ago and are calving in the rst group of 2-year-olds raised in groups with great successes. always been taught about raising calves. “We decided to start with just a few to see how it went,” Jones said. “We actually started with feeding milk in troughs instead of the group feeders.” It did not take long for the two
to become sold on the idea of raising calves in groups. They made the switch from the troughs to the group feeders and have not looked back since. “We found that the calves were so much more aggressive at drinking with the competition,” Jones said. “They were also way more aggressive with their starter intake.” Prior to moving to group housing, calves were raised in hutches on Friske’s farm. Now, calves are moved to Jones’ farm down the road from Friske’s. In the winter months, calves are moved at 2 weeks; in the summer, they are moved at 3 days. The groups of ve calves are fed milk replacer until about 2 to 2.5 months, depending on the group, and are offered free-choice water and calf starter at all times. Jones began adding apple cider vinegar to the milk replacer when she began group feeding. “We just don’t see scours,” Jones said. After weaning, the calves stay in their same groups until they move back to Friske’s farm at about 6 to 7 months PHOTO SUBMITTED of age. “We tried bringing them back at 5 Calves from Brian Friske’s Valley Hill Farm drink milk from a group feeder. They months, but found that they don’t take are now raised on Jeannie Jones’ neighboring farm in small groups and fed with off as well as they do being a little group feeders. older,” Friske said. When the calves return to the home
farm, they are fed one of three heifer TMR mixes that they stay on until they enter the milking herd. “They all grow up together, and when the groups get combined it doesn’t seem to be as stressful for them because they are still with calves they’ve been with from the beginning,” Jones said. At the same time they made the move to group housing, Friske and Jones decided to remove hay from their calves’ diets until they reach 3 months of age. Prior to making the change to group housing, calves were offered hay in their hutches. “I probably changed too many things at once to really pinpoint what made the biggest difference,” Jones said. “They don’t get hay bellies as much as what we used to see.” Friske and Jones have found that the group-raised calves are ready to breed earlier than the calves raised in individual housing. They are now breeding their heifers at 12-13 months. Before changing their calf-raising program, they were breeding heifers at 15-16 months of age. Changing from traditional calfraising methods caused raised eyebrows among some of their farming neighbors and friends. Turn to GROUP-RAISED | Page 4