The ultimate goal of calf rearing is to set up a heifer to achieve target weights over her lifetime in order to maximise profitability. These targets will include doubling her birthweight at the point of weaning, achieving 60% of her mature weight at breeding, and calving down at 24 months at 90% of her mature body weight.

To reach such targets, replacement heifers need to achieve a steady gain of approximately 0.75 kg/day from birth. Interruptions to performance over the calf-rearing period may offset such target weights being achieved. Therefore, adopting best practice calf rearing advice and protocols are of key importance over the next few vital weeks.

3-2-1 Rule

Good colostrum management is the most important factor in calf health and survival. Over the last 3-5 years, 70% of calves that presented for a post-mortem at regional veterinary laboratories, were found to have received either poor quality or insufficient quantities of colostrum.

When feeding colostrum, it is essential that the 3-2-1 rule is adhered to. This includes providing the calf with at a minimum of 3 litres (or 5-6% of a calf’s birth weight), within 2 hours of birth, using colostrum from the cows first milking. This process should then be repeated 8 hours later, however it is important to note that by the second milking, the dam’s immunoglobulin content will have halved.

Cleanliness of colostrum is a huge dictating factor, as the amount of dirt particles or contamination to the colostrum before entering the calf will limit the amount of immunity absorption available. Feeding pooled colostrum to calves is also not recommended as it can lead to major risk factors including increased disease risk and poor-quality colostrum entering the pool.

With this in mind, it is essential to ensure that all utensils are sterile and that milking protocols and good colostrum harvesting hygiene are applied.

Calf Hygiene and Facilities

Facilities ideally should be clean, dry, draught free, with good ventilation. A new-born calf will spend over 80% of their time lying down, therefore it is imperative to provide a deep, warm, dry bed always.

Calves should spend minimal time periods in the calving-pen to avoid picking up infection or disease. To avoid carrying disease into the calf shed over the peak calving months, set-up a wash point at the entrance to the calf shed for staff, vets, etc. Early detection of sick calves and isolation to avoid spreading bacterial infections, is also of high importance.

Rumen Development

Once a calf starts to intake water and starter concentrates/ration, we introduce healthy bacteria into the rumen which will kick-start rumen development. Starter concentrates and ad-lib fresh water should be available to the calf from three days of age. A clean source of long roughage/fibre (e.g. straw) should also be available at all times to promote dry matter intakes This forage should be offered above ground level in racks/mangers.

Weaning should only ever be considered once calves are consuming 1.5 kg of concentrates/day. Weaning calves on a weight basis, compared to an age basis, will result in a more uniform batch.

Milk Replacer Choice

When it comes to milk replacer, the three main benefits include:

1. Cost effectiveness
2. Reduced risk of disease transfer in the herd
3. Consistency in the calf’s diet

Milk replacer should be dairy derived and contain a high dairy content. Dairy proteins are more easily digestible and available to the calf compared to plant-based proteins. Both Vitalac Red and Blue Calf Milk Replacers contain a 90-95% dairy content.

Milk replacer should replicate the role of good quality whole milk, typically offered at 12.5% milk solids (E.g. 125 g powder, into 875ml clean water to make 1 litre of milk). Feeding a calf twice-a-day at 6 litres/day would result in offering the calf 750 g of powder/day.

When mixing, adhere to the milk replacer guidelines outlined below using fresh clean, warm water and sterile mixing and feeding utensils. The optimal drinking temperature of the calf milk replacer is 39°C. To prepare the milk, dissolve the powder in two-thirds of the amount of water at 55-60°C and add the remaining water at room temperature until the optimum drinking temperature is reached.

See typical milk replacer feeding guidelines below:

More Information:

For more information, browse our Vitalac Calf Milk Replacer page or download the Agritech-Milk-Replacer-Brochure (2.5MB).

Silage harvesting is a major cost on Irish farms, therefore it is most important that the desired level of quality is achieved.

Dry Matter Digestibility (DMD) indicates the feeding value of a forage crop. In grass silage, it refers to the percentage of grass dry matter that an animal can digest to support their feed requirements. To make high DMD silage, the grass sward needs to contain a high leaf content. DMD is also linked to harvest date, with research showing that a crop harvested on June 2nd versus a harvest date of May 20^th, resulted in a DMD drop of as much as 5%.

Key considerations
Weather will be the main dictating factor with silage harvesting. However, during periods of broken weather, where a window of opportunity appears, avoid delaying harvest. Delaying first cut will cause a large drop in quality and reduce second cut yields significantly.

Grass sugars are the main consideration for crop preservation (Sugar being the food required for fermentation bacteria). The target for good preservation is 3%. Cutting time (early afternoon) and cutting conditions will have the greatest impact on sugar content in grass.

Grass nitrates can affect preservation by increasing buffering capacity. A grass crop will on average use up 2 units of N per day for first cut. Nonetheless, this is only a general rule and should not delay cutting date. Wilting silage to approximately ˃28% will help decrease nitrates.

Wilting is very beneficial to silage preservation where sugars are marginal and/or nitrates remain elevated. The aim should be to increase crop dry matter to 25-30% with pit silage and 30-35% with baled silage. Over wilting can cause issues when feeding out silage, such as heat loss/secondary fermentation.

Using a silage additive

The application of a proven silage additive, such as Agritech’s GrasZyme Sugarboost, at ensiling is a very important part of securing as much of the quality in the winter forage as possible – speeding up preservation and retaining more of the feed value within the pit, alongside less waste/losses.

From a total of 19 independent trials, GrasZyme Sugarboost has proven to deliver:

• + 1 litre of milk per cow per day and .09% milk protein increase
• + 110g daily live-weight gain in beef animals
• 1% reduction in dry matter losses

For further information, contact your local Agritech Sales Advisor.  

With ever tightening profit margins, especially in the beef sector, the complex area of feed efficiency is and must continue to command close attention. In intensively fed animals there is a constant challenge to juggle the balance between optimising milk and meat output in the most economical way, while maintaining optimum rumen health at all times.

It is vital that the rumen environment is maintained in a healthy state to avoid the occurrence of acidosis. Acidosis occurs as a result of poor rumen health status and can present in two forms; clinical and sub clinical. The second form mostly presents as Sub Acute Rumen Acidosis (SARA). SARA is the main dietary performance constraint of intensively fed animals.

SARA has three principal causes: 

• High intakes of starches, sugars and acidic feeds.
• Inadequate structural fibre in diet.
• Inability of rumen to adapt to a highly fermentable / low fibre diet.

Identifying Sub-Acute Rumen Acidosis (SARA) in your herd

The tell-tale signs of SARA are sometimes difficult to detect through visual observation however, symptoms include:

• Animals performing 5-10% below capacity.
• Bubbles on dung.
• Less than 80% of animals which are lying down observed chewing the cud.
• Mildly depressed demeanour.
• Increased lameness levels.
• Cows swishing their tails (due to passing acidic manure).

Rumen Buffer Feeding

Maintaining good rumen health can be achieved through the inclusion of adequate roughage in the animals’ diet, such as straw and through the addition of a suitable rumen buffer. Straw can act as an excellent buffer but must be limited due to its low nutritive value and space requirement in the rumen. This year in particular, straw quality in many cases is not of adequate feed quality for livestock and is no longer a cheap option.

Feeding of an appropriate rumen buffer will play a valuable role on all farms where there are intensively fed animals or low fibre diets. A high-quality rumen buffer will not only help avoid problems like acidosis but it will also improve feed efficiency, optimise the rumen environment and maximise the return from your winter ration.

Rumicare– why it’s the best option

Rumicare is a phased release buffer and is available as Rumicare Beef and Rumicare Dairy. It contains a unique blend of buffers that each have their own mode of action and different speeds of breakdown (phased release) within the rumen. The combination of ingredients maintains a more desirable pH within the rumen at critical times throughout each 24-hour period.

Rumicare works on two different fronts in the fight against SARA. It directly neutralises rumen pH through its alkaline properties, while the added yeast also acts as a natural buffer by enhancing rumen bacterial growth. This combination of buffers and yeast has long been shown to gel very well together.

Speaking with farmers that have used Rumicare in the past, livestock are in great form, displaying improved appetites, performance and producing more consistent manures. Rumicare also smoothens transition diets with less setbacks and less displaced abomasums. Another added bonus is that it provides a very good level of calcium and magnesium, which is particularly important for the lactating dairy cow in early lactation.

On farm support during COVID-19

In order to keep our customers and staff as safe as possible, our sales team and distributors we will be minimising the number of on farm consultations. We are however, as always, available for FREE delivery direct to farm and over the phone consultations. Contact your local Agritech sales rep/distributor to place your order or click here. 

For further advice or information on our Welmin Mineral Supplements range, click here.

Although temperatures are beginning to rise, calves are still at risk of contracting pneumonia. Take a look at some of the common causes as well as our effective solutions below:

Causes

• Variation in high day temperatures and low night temperatures. If greater than 13°C, animals are at a higher risk of pneumonia
• Poor shed ventilation, i.e. leaving doors open in the late evening
• Overstocking sheds. As calves grow, they require more ground and air space

Solutions 

• Treat all symptoms immediately
• Provide shelter, space and keep calves rehydrated at all times
• Boost calf immunity by feeding Vitameg in both milk and feed

Vitameg

Vitameg is a feeding supplement with prebiotic and Omega-3 for young ruminants.

Vitameg’s combination of ingredients when fed to young ruminants will:

• Increase feed intakes.
• Stimulate rumen development.
• Increase daily live weight gain.
• Support calf natural defence mechanism.
• Improve digestibility

View our Vitameg brochure 

To find out more, contact your local distributor 

Planning ahead is the key ingredient for success. Below we outline a number of key tasks that farmers must address to ensure that they are ready for the New Year.

Silage Analysis

Favourable weather conditions created excellent autumn grazing conditions across the country, enabling many farms to bulk up silage stocks and reduce the risk of fodder deficits this winter. Despite this, it is essential not to become complacent, therefore we recommend that every farm establishes the quality and supply of silage in order to ensure that all animals are fed for optimum performance. Simply measure length x width x height (metres)/1.4 to give an accurate assessment of fresh tonnes of silage in the pit.

Cow Body Condition Analysis

Cow body condition analysis is one of the most important jobs to be completed on farms at this time of the year. We recommend that farmers segregate under conditioned cows, especially first time calvers and those carrying twins, and supplement appropriately. A simple mix of soya and a barley or oats blend will fit most situations with the ratios and feeding levels dictated by silage quality and cow condition.

Dry Cow Mineral Supplementation

Dry cow supplementation is essential for this time of the year. With a feeding recommendation of 100 grams per head per day, it is important that an increased amount of feed per day is given to cows who started their dry cow supplements late. A dry cow should receive a minimum of 6kgs of dry cow minerals in advance of calving in order to ensure that she is adequately replenished and prepared for calving and next year’s lactation.

Click here for more information or take a read of our brand new 2019 Welmin Brochure.

Housing Hygiene 

With herd sizes increasing, the pressure on calving facilities and calf housing has become intense on many farms. If you suspect that cryptosporidium is a problem on your farm, it is important to ensure that the disinfectant you use addresses this hazardous threat. Steam cleaning is also a very useful tool in the fight against this parasite. It is highly recommended to apply a suitable hygiene product such as our Sanitise Bedding Conditioner to the disinfected area.

Vaccinations

A ‘dry’ farm is not an assurance against fluke infection, therefore the herd should be dung sampled to establish if parasites exist. Many of the anti-scour vaccines have a recommended application time of between 12 and 3 weeks before calving, making now an excellent time to vaccinate the early calving portion of the herd. Be careful to adhere to the regulatory guidelines when addressing fluke infections.

Soil Testing

Now is also a great time to carry out the required soil tests on your farm. Ideally, the optimum time to test is 12 + weeks following the application of chemical fertilizer or slurry. When soil testing, it is important to ensure that the test taken is an accurate representation of the area being tested. This is best achieved by using a soil core and walking the area in a ‘W’ formation. 250 grams is an adequate amount of soil to include for each sample.

For further advice on any of the above items discussed, please contact your local distributor. 

Wishing all our customers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Following on from a successful show at EuroTier 2018, we are delighted to be back on home soil for the return of the Royal Ulster Winter Fair which takes place at the Eikon Exhibition Centre, Balmoral Park, Lisburn, next Thursday, 13th December 2018.

We will be exhibiting at Stand EK96, so be sure to drop by as our the team will be on hand to provide information about the Agritech product range including our Vitalac Milk Replacer, Sanitise Bedding Conditioner and Welmin Mineral Range. The team will also be advising on queries regarding calf rearing, housing management, mineral supplementation and many more.

If that’s not enough, we will also have our brand new Welmin Mineral brochure on display as well a very special 2019 Wall Planner giveaway … the perfect way to prepare for the New Year!

Looking forward to welcoming you all.

Moisture deficits are evident, grass growth has come to a halt and many farmers have been forced to utilise their winter forage stocks.

As feed reserves for the winter are now being used, farmers are beginning to turn their attentions to using other alternatives such as wholecrop silage. Wholecrop is a good alternative forage and a useful complementary forage for grass silage.

Wholecrop silage is relatively easy to preserve, however, as it contains a higher starch and sugar content, it is vulnerable to aerobic spoilage. It is fundamental to ensure that the quality in the field makes it to feedout, therefore a focus must be placed on the ensiling process.

“In order to optimise the quality of your wholecrop silage, target harvesting when dry matter is 35-40% with a chop length of 3-5cm” states Agritech Techincal Director, Seamus O’Slatarra.

“Apply a good quality preservative such as Ensile Bio to ensure a rapid cool fermentation. Ensile-Bio inhibits spoilage organisms to produce a cool silage which is stable and highly palatable leading to maximum production. It increases clamp stability by at least 3 days, reduces losses, increases palatability, inhibits mycotoxin producing moulds and improves fermentation.”

For ease of application, Ensile Bio is available as granular powder or sachet for liquid application.

For more information, contact your local Agritech distributor.