Calf care

By ACER Consulting Ltd. CONTRIBUTOR

To say calf health and welfare is a key component to a successful cattle operation is an understatement. Yet another understatement is that, for many producers, calf and health welfare is tough to consistently manage. From weather to new bugs to new practices, there always seems to be something new to learn or a new challenge to tackle.

Looking back through the years, producers have made many positive strides in calf health management. For instance, the estimated mortality rate in pre-weaned calves has trended downward since the 1980s, from an average of 12 per cent down to six per cent. Producers report consistently feeding more colostrum and milk to their calves. As any good calf manager knows, higher planes of nutrition and a focus on colostrum management are some of the important factors in getting your calves off to a healthy start. Male dairy calf care has evolved, too, with many producers reporting pre-weaned calves are treated equally, regardless of gender. Other factors, such as proAction, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s (CFIA) humane transportation regulations and industry shifts, such as the rise of dairy beef, all emphasize increased oversight of calf health and welfare.

Yet nearly every producer will say challenges remain. The biggest culprits? Diarrhea and pneumonia, of course. Recent research studies have shown approximately 21 per cent and 12 per cent of pre-weaned calves have diarrhea and pneumonia, respectively. Those numbers change to roughly one per cent (diarrhea) and five per cent (pneumonia) in the post-weaning period. Studies suggest roughly 25 per cent of calves have failed transfer of passive immunity, an average stillbirth rate of five per cent and

INCORPORATING CALF HEALTH INTO HERD HEALTH

Your veterinarian can help you achieve your goals and reduce costs over the long run

mortality in the pre- and post-weaning periods of six per cent and two per cent. In short, there is still plenty of room for improvement. These numbers represent important calf health and welfare challenges, and key costs to your operation. From an estimated $36 per case of diarrhea to $940 per stillbirth, these costs add up in a hurry.

THE OPPORTUNITY

One area that continues to be important, and often overlooked, is incorporating calf health into routine herd health visits with your veterinarian. In a 2018 study, only 33 per cent of vets indicated they ask about the health and performance of calves at routine herd health visits. At the Healthy Calf Conference in 2018, 50 per cent of participating producers reported their vet rarely provides calf health advice, while only 20 per cent noted their vet records information on issues, such as total proteins, colostrum quality and growth. This is a missed opportunity for you and your veterinarian.

VETERINARY PERSPECTIVE

Veterinarians are busy and there are many areas of the barn in which they need to focus their time and attention. Yet, herd health has become synonymous with reproduction, which is a critical task for dairy herds to ensure consistent milk supply. But the concept of herd health should be more holistic. For instance, young stock should also be considered since they are the future of the herd, are one of the most vulnerable groups on the farm and heifer-rearing is one of the costliest aspects of dairy management.

Veterinarians have identified numerous factors that may affect the opportunity to talk about calf health during a visit, including they: • Sometimes struggle to get producer buy-in; • Have challenges motivating their clients to change; • Don’t have the time to commit to consistently prioritize calves during herd health; • Bigger barriers, such as facilities and labour, can be challenging for the veterinarian to properly address for the farmer. While this doesn’t represent every veterinarian, it does provide some insight into the veterinarian perspective; • Would like to have a better understanding of their farmers’ priorities, such as asking their clients how they want calf health to factor into routine veterinary visits.

WHY LEVERAGE YOUR VETERINARIAN FOR CALF HEALTH?

Whether it’s a formal calf health program, or just an informal discussion, there are several benefits to prioritizing calves during a visit with your vet. Simply put, disease costs you. Your vet can help protect your investment in each calf by supporting more proactive and timely interventions to reduce morbidity and mortality costs. They can also help improve growth rates to target an age at first calving that is optimal for lifetime milk production. Your veterinarian is another set of eyes that can employ their animal health expertise to help inform decision-making and foster continuous improvement based on your personal goals.

WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS?

Do you have explicit calf health goals established? Are you focused on improving colostrum management? Growth performance? Tracking and improving morbidity and mortality? Your vet can help establish and refine these goals. Once identified, they can help with data collection, too.

Is colostrum management your goal? Your vet and their technicians can support you by Continued on page 27