RAISING HEALTHY CALVES

from Georgia Cattleman February 2023

February PRODUCTION POINTS

By Dr. Lee Jones, DVM, M.S., Department of Population Health, Food Animal Health and Management, Tifton Diagnostic and Investigational Laboratory, Associate Professor, University of Georgia

The goal of many cow/calf producers is to profitably produce resistant, resilient calves that have strong disease resistance and that can handle the transitions from nursing, preconditioning, backgrounding or stockering to the feedlot or some finishing phase. That may seem far away while we are calving; but as the saying goes, “we need to begin with the end in mind.”

When we approach our production system focusing only on the next event, such as calving season or breeding, we can miss the interrelated connections from one event to another. Our farms and ranches have production cycles, and cycles do just that: They go in cycles, with each activity or event leading into the next one. Activities in one event of the cycle affect the next either positively or negatively, possibly impacting subsequent cycle(s), resulting in a ripple effect. This goes on year after year. “Systems thinking” looks at the whole, big picture.

This approach is especially applicable to part-time cattle producers. We need cattle that are nearly trouble-free. Many part-time producers would rather count calves than calve cows. Therefore, paying careful attention to the herd health and production system on the farm is critical for successful calf production. Considerations for raising healthy calves focus on three general areas: natural calf health and immunity; calving and colostrum intake; and environment.

We work in events and think about the system. Our strategy guides the process.

Raising healthy calves begins before calving. Pre-calving nutrition prepares the cow to give birth to a healthy, vigorous calf. Pre-calving (also called prenatal for humans) nutrition provides the calf with essential nutrients to thrive after birth. Maternal nutrition and health affects fetal development during gestation, called fetal programming. Fetal programming has long-term impacts on the life, health and production of the calf after birth. Maternal nutrition also affects colostrum quality. Calves that do not get sufficient colostrum within 8-12 hours of birth are at a much higher risk of disease and death than calves that nurse colostrum soon after birth. We need to watch body condition of our cow herd and nutrition prior to calving to make sure that cows calve in good condition. That is important for calf health and quality colostrum.

Cow body condition also affects calving ease. Cows in thin or over condition can have more difficulty giving birth than cows in moderate body condition. Ideally, cows should calve in body condition score of 5 or 6 (BCS 5 or 6 on a scale of 1-9; 1 is emaciated and 9 is obese). Restricting nutrition prior to calving can produce a lighter calf at birth; however, studies show that these cows actually have more difficulty calving and the calves have more health problems and weigh less at weaning compared to calves from cows that had adequate nutrition during pregnancy.

Calves born quickly are more vigorous and nurse faster than calves that experience difficult or delayed birth. Colostrum contains nutrients and components essential to the health of the calf. One component is immunoglobulin G (IgG). IgG is absorbed by the calf and is essential to the calf’s immunity. IgG can be absorbed only in the first 24 hours after birth and is most efficiently absorbed in the first 12 hours. Calves that ingest colostrum 12 or more hours after birth absorb less colostrum than calves that nurse within a few hours of birth. For many cows, the birthing process takes less than 30 minutes, while heifers may take a couple of hours. Check cows and heifers that are in labor for more than two hours to see what is causing the delay. The calf may be too big to pass through the birth canal or may not be in the correct birth position. It is a good practice to provide colostrum to calves that require assistance because these calves often aren’t vigorous enough to nurse without assistance the first day after birth.

We need to address the calving environment and make sure that it’s not too crowded, which accelerates build-up of calving-area contamination and mud. We need to provide some protection from the elements – especially cold, wet weather, or severe weather and predators. Environmental stress and contamination of calving area contribute to the incidence of calf scours and reduce the calf’s ability to fight off infections. Being born in a contaminated environment increases the amount of virus and bacteria that the calves have to fight and increases the likelihood that the bugs will win. Many farmers have few problems the first few weeks of calving but start seeing later-born calves develop scours. This is because the earlierborn calves did not encounter the same level of pathogens from the environment – but they also reproduced more pathogens and contaminated the environment for later-born calves. One strategy to improve calf health is to move dry cows onto fresh calving pasture.

We need to make sure that all cattle have access to the clean water tanks and adequate feed bunk space. Even though we provide access to clean water, cows may sometimes drink from pools in the pasture or paddock or eat hay off the muddy ground. Cows may develop diarrhea from drinking fouled water or muddy hay. Calves may consume manure or mud when they nurse if the udder is dirty or muddy.

We need to make sure that our staff knows how to identify when to help a heifer or cow during calving, and how to identify and care for calves that are critical, so that every calf has a chance to thrive. We need to have the veterinarian’s number handy – so that when we need to call, we can get in touch with them. All of this helps lead to a successful calving season.

By recognizing and solving problems, we have better outcomes and healthier calves. By seeing the patterns in our operations, we prevent or reduce those problems beforehand. As the saying goes, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” There’s no doubt that cure is good – but prevention is better. Getting calves off to a good start is the first step to raising healthy calves.