Hello, everyone. Welcome to this webinar and thank you for joining me. This webinar is about young calf rearing and not in its classical sense addressing diseases and therapy, but addressing calf rearing as a management approach.
The objectives of this webinar are first to clarify this process approach of Juncker overhearing. Then address the different risk periods in this process. Present management measures for different risk periods, and finally discuss the analysis and evaluation of calf rearing.
The asterisk, the star or orange colour it at the right side, means that there are some slides where I make a sidestep to practical issues from the field which may clarify even more what this process approach means. The following procedure of the webinar is that I have 7 chapters, so to say. First of all, the layout of the rearing process.
The focus on lossum periods, the milk milk reraisal periods. I addressed general management measures, then the weaning of the calf. Analysis and evaluation of calf rearing performance, and I will end up with some conclusions.
First, the basis of young calf management. It starts with the selection of ye and them for artificial insemination. It continues with the pregnant dam during the dry period, transition period, and then I have distinguished some critical periods in calf rearing.
That's the birth. And colostum period. The second is the milkation period, 2nd weaning, and 3 puberty.
An artificial insemination in this webinar will address specifically. The period 1 and critical 2, because this is where it's all happening for the future, so to say. Why do we focus on these 1st 8 weeks of life?
The reasons are the following. The optimal age at risk calving is between 22 and 24 months. In the graph, it's shown with the orange coloured area.
After 24 months of age at first calving, life expectancy drops. Secondly, there is a programming by them and by the farmer in the 1st 6 weeks of life. By the dam through the colostrum quality, and by the farmer, depending on its level and the quality of farm management.
Proper programming may extend the life expectancy of the heifer with 1 or 2 years. So any investment that the farmer does in the 1st 6 weeks of life pays off. So let us first set the major operational goals for the calf management process.
Draw 10. Starting again with them. Which should stay healthy until at least after giving birth to the calf.
The dam should pass an adequate dry period, and the transition management of the dam should be optimal. The calving birth process should go on without complications for both. And then a healthy female calf should be born in a normal way without dystopia.
The navel should be disinfected twice, and the animals should be housed properly. Cluster management should result in high IgG levels in the calf. The calf should stay healthy until at least after weaning.
And the calf should show a steady growth until after weaning without any variability, for example, due to diseases. The calf should be weaned at an age of 8 to 10 weeks without disturbances. Again, diseases.
The calf should develop further after this period of 8 to 10 weeks without complications, and at the end, the calf should become a heifer, which calves normally at a proper age 22 to 24 months and a proper weight. The overall farm process. Is defined by 3 economic pillars.
The milking cow hurt. Nutrition and posturing. And the 3 youngster rearing and as a specific part, the young calves burst to weaning period.
And of course we know support the farm domains like that take place in the milking parlour, house. Fi Just the machinery, and of course the consultants as a veterinarian, nutritionists, and potentially other advisors. So we focus on the young calves birth to weaning period, which is a part of the future of the farm.
When we consider the timeline of the car management process, starting with the selection of the designer and them, and then go down to the winning moment. This timeline includes several critical time points, events, and risk periods. We will address that in this webinar.
For example, Just the period between birth and cholostrum, what we call a process flow diagram, at point A at the left upper side. We prepared them for carving. So they already management interferes with quality of the birth colostrum period.
Then the birth of the calf, the first colostrum, and the last colostrum. Then this period ends and at point B, the calf shifts on to the next. Periods in the, in the calfaring process.
With regard to the birth of the calf and the first colostrum. We can distinguish several monitoring issues. Hygiene, around carving, hygiene and milking the colostrum.
The proper own the house of the dam. The naval disinfection, quality of the colostrum. The blood level of IgG in the calf, the housing.
And the climate in the barn of the neonatal calf stock of colostrum health status, and behaviour. Left and right of this . Text block You find at the left side monitoring protocols and records.
To deliver a kind of mythological structure. Not to forget things of monitoring and at the right side, the targets associated with the parameters. For example, what should be the optimal IgG blood level in the calf or how should I assess the housing and the barn climate for the neonatal calf.
This is a structural approach. Purely methodological, but based on routine monitoring of certain periods in the kind of life. This is the blueprint for our car rearing methodology.
For example, process that preparing the dam. Body condition? Optimal health, no milk fever, and checking of the other health to make sure that the loss and quality will be adequate.
Checking off the claw health, feed intake, and to avoid negative energy balance NEB. The carving pen is the next part of it. Should be cleaned and disaffected before calving.
Thick, dry straw layer, spacious. Preferably a single pan, fresh air, high quality fresh water, and in view or hear of herd mates. Carving hygiene, the third one.
Prepare warm water and towels. Disinfect the animal, prepare lubricants, and make sure that the personal hygiene is optimal. And finally, the 4th carving tools are only to be used if truly needed.
And of course you are aware of the fact that there are carving surveillance devices like here the mu at the. Down right side of this slide. The process that the birth of the calf.
Three sectors, the dam again, clean, disinfect every part of the dam prior to carving. Make sure that the carving pen is clean, dry, and it has a res chick, straw layer, the carve itself. Never force a cow to calf.
Be patient. Eliminated the placenta from the calf's nose and ripped the calf thoroughly to dry it quickly. After birth, this affected navel twice.
Check that the placenta comes off. Milk, the 1st 2 litres of Colostrum ascetically put calf in a single hutch for 5 to 10 days. Provide fresh air and make the cows separate from other cattle, and if needed in cold areas, provide a heating lamp.
I conclude this slide by mentioning that you have to mind the thermal neutrality of the cows, which is not at all comparable to the thermal neutrality of cows. We come to that later on. The Clouston period Second chapter, Clotrom has already been considered for its IgG level.
Including also IGA IGM. However, Recent research shows many other critical issues of colostrum. Colostrum provides the nutritional programming by the dam associated with long-term health and productivity of the newborn.
This programming takes place by the leukocytes, cytokines, hormones, and vitamin A in the colostrum. For example, the leukocytes have already a memory function. They enhance the maturation of calf immune cells and co-protect the calf for the 1st 14 days of life.
The hormones in the lostrum enhance the vis development and absorption. So indeed, the 1st 6 weeks of life impact on the lifespan of the animal. Calves is the first light where the orange star appears.
For example, carves worn from he dressed cows. Show a poor absorption of losing components. A poor immune function.
Less immune cell proliferation, a high risk of disease. Poor growth rate up to weaning, a poor feed intake, and the first calving will be at an older rate than 24 months. These animals show a lower male yield later on and are prone for culling prematurely.
This dam's programming has completely gone wrong. The lustre Management Protocol comprises the issues listed on this slide. First colostrum, 2 to 4 litres within 2 hours after carving.
Check the colostrum quality. For example, by a cholostrometer. Indicating 2000 milligrammes per litre, beware of the fact that the colossal metre is calibrated at 18 to 20 °C.
That means that if the temperature is lower, for example, uphill, there is an underestimation, and if the temperature is higher, for example, in the valley, there is an overestimation. Be careful with that issue. Use the 1st loss also for the 2nd feeding.
Feed Colostrum anyway under strict hygienic conditions. Gloves, clean, disinfected bucket or a bottle. You may stock the surplus glossum in the freezer in packs of 2 litre or in cubes.
And check that the Clostrum intake is 4 to 6 litres per day. Record those events. Feed colostrum for 3 to 5 consecutive days, to be sure that all the positive components of the colostrum are indeed beneficial for the calf, and if needed, use the colostrum feeder.
The glostrum feeder should be handled correctly. You have to first clean and disinfect the bag or the bottle and tube and dry it afterwards. And in the middle.
Photograph, you have to measure distance between the the calf's mouth. And the presumed entrance in the gastrointestinal tract in order to be sure that you will not insert the tube. Too much.
At the right side photograph, you see that the calf is restrained. And that the head is somewhat over high. Afterwards, check the calf IgG level by refractometer with the standard reference of 15 to 80 grammes per litre.
Record all events around Croton Frieden in Colostrum rock, so you'll be able to follow up this calf, depending on how much it has consumed, if there is any problem with regards to the feeding with the colossum feeder or not, you'll always be able to follow up. An example of the the refractometer is in the picture down right side. Recent experience, 2019, it dealt with the volume of cough feeding and its energetic effects.
The comparison between whole colostom, frozen colostrum, and cell 3 colostom on the occurrence of diarrhoea, respiratory disease, and immune responsiveness. Every time the fresh old colostrum came out as the best. What about pasteurisation of colostrum?
And what about cow's whole milk? Anyway, pasteurisation kills off some of the components that we have addressed earlier with regards to the programming. So, pasteurisation might not be the best way to feed the calf.
Never use antibiotic milk for calves. It will disturb the microbes in the gastrointestinal tract. The third chapter period.
From individual hutches, the calf is transported to group housing. For milk reraisal, there is also also a protocol. Check the quality of water beforehand.
Check the daily mixing temperature for water and powder combinations. Standard is between 40 and 65 °C. Check the milk power concentration.
Standard is 125 gramme per litre. Check the drinking temperature daily. 38 to 40 °C.
Use a fixed feeding schedule throughout the day. Bovine species is a species which likes routine. So feeding schedule means fixed hours of feeding.
Check the quantity of milk powder fed per calf for consistency. Often errors are made there. That's the asterisks.
Give at first feeding 1.5 to 2 litres, for example, by a teeth bracket. The best is to use an automatic calf heater or so-called calf bar.
Apply the highest hygiene levels for equipment, personnel in the barn, and again, keep a cow feeding lock, so we can do the follow up and evaluate the milk reprisal period. The most common error in Giving milk replacer is that the normal mixing protocol for affected group is, for example, suppose we need 246 litres of the mix. Fill the mix with 131 litre of water, at 8 38.5 kg of milk powder, lend the mix at 40 to 65 degrees.
Add more water to reach the necessary 246 litre. What is the error in the field? First of all, the farmer puts 246 litre water in the tap and then adds the 35, 38.5 kilogrammes of milk powder.
If you do so, the consequence is that the concentration is too low and there will be a growth problem. So again, back. To the standard protocol, fill the mixer with not the full volume of water, but a large part of it.
What about the automatic car feeder? There are different brands on the market. They all need to be to be programmed.
Are very labour efficient. That's the reason that it's automatic. Advantage is that the milk is always prepared freshly.
Volume, concentration, and temperature are guaranteed. The girls enter in a group housing at the age between 3 and 7 days. All cars consumes an average 10 litres per day.
The weaning weaning date can be preset, and if it's preset, there is a gradual reduction of the feed volume. Machine data and monitoring data are used for evaluation and analysis. One parameter is, for example, the ringing speed pattern.
A feature with automatic calibration, of course, is to be preferred. When you talk about group housing on the right side, the picture and the bar, prefer a maximum group size of 6 for socialisation. So to say, young cows need a friend, so no uneven numbers because there will at least be one or several without any friends.
7 or 11, he is not to be preferred. About general management. We address group housing, climate, and general health.
For group housing, be sure that the age difference between the cops is less than 2 weeks. Provide unlimited fresh water available the whole day. Gift pellets concentrates twice per day.
Provide high quality fever. Available all day. 5 calves.
It is optimal. I had to replace that by 6 scarf is optimal, given the search for friends for socialisation. With regard to the climate.
Make sure there are sufficient air inlets. If there is an open bond. Make sure you have installed windbreak curtains to get rid of draughts.
In cold periods, you might install heaters. Some people have floor heating. Expensive.
Check the ventilation frequently. One rule of thumb with regard to ventilation is that when you enter the curve bar, You should not be able to smell that there are cars. The distribution in the barn.
Can be checked easily with smoke powder. You see the pattern of the air distribution, and you can see whether there are stagnant corners present in the bar or not. Check the air, relative humidity, which would be less than 60%, and check the ammonia in the air.
It would be good to record those monitoring issues on air distribution, relative humidity, and ammonia. With regard to general health, older calves should not have a disease like diarrhoea or respiratory. The features at 5 weeks of age should be brown and solid.
Hair coat at 5 and 10 weeks should be shiny. Record these events in the kind of events log for evaluation. All this Logs served to evaluate whether we were able to programme.
The period of 6 weeks of age in the most optimal situation. On the upper right corner. I have stated minded specific measures for cold stress and heat stress, because those events, cold stress, heat stress may disturb largely what we want to do.
A special note on Ventilation It's trendy to talk about positive pressure ventilation for cars. At the left side, you see two examples. The tubes on the ceiling.
Have holes where the air comes out. Not the direction of the air openings. It right Down picture.
You can see that the simulation. Shows where the air comes down on the calf. The great advantage is in the upper left photograph, there's a large volume, a thick straw layer.
The cars have sufficient space to move around. And the tunnel ventilation, positive pressure ventilation means that the air is completely distributed throughout the barn. There are no dead airports with droughts, it's a very good situation.
An example of calf housing in individual hedges. They are well separated. They cannot touch each other.
No transfer of . Microbes in a direct sense if the farmer Takes away the separation. They have in fact already a group housing.
So the calves know each other from hearing and afterwards from seeing and meeting. Another example, a calf pen individual. There's a very nice, thick, dry, clean straw layer as it should be.
However, there is a very unfriendly design. There is no easy access to feed or water due to the fact that the distance between the poles is too small. The calves like this one will not easily.
Access the bucket for eating or drinking. Meaning that the cow will be afraid to start eating and drinking. The consequences that feed intake will be reduced and the growth will be reduced.
The point is to monitor routinely and what's going on in the Jost and provide with the most optimal situations. Here If the farmer has calves in iglos or hatches outside, it should be protected against the direct sun radiation on all sides. An exercise area should be provided in front of the igloo or the hutch.
To increase ventilation within the hutch or the igloo, you could elevate the backsides with a brick 20 to 30 centimetres high, and that means that there is movement of air. To install wind brake curtains horizontally at 4 metres above floor. You could install ventilators, 190 centimetres in diameter, which blow in front of the igors or hutches at the speed of 7 to 15 kilometres per hour.
This creates air movement sufficient to refresh the air under the windbreak curtain every hour. Don't speed up the the ventilators, the fans above the 15 kilometres per hour. It's not necessary and it can be a disadvantage for the calf health.
Never install misters or focus outside. The wind is blowing the mist away. If calves are housed inside during hot periods.
Mist and fog could be, could be used. It's not compulsory, but could be used to to cool down the air in the barn. A mister or fogger has nothing to do with cooling animals.
Keep the straw bedding clean, dry, and thick each day outside and inside and make fresh drinking water available all day long. At the down right corner, you find the thermal neutral zones for young cows and cows a little bit older. For example, between 2 or 3 weeks of age.
The thermal neutral zone is between 15 and 23. If calves are older than 45 or 6 weeks, that zone is between 6 and 22. What is a thermal neutral zone?
That is the range of Ambient temperature where the animal. Does not need to spend energy to get rid of body heat. For cows, it's different.
In the cold dress, there are two options. Acute cold stress and gradual cold stress. Acute coat stress is, for example, when the calf has a wet hair coat.
Or is found in the cold or in the snow. It usually occurs at birth. And or after dystopia.
The gradual exposure of cold stress. Is when they are out with a poor hair coat. And draughts are in the barn or outside.
And when there is no weather protection at all. Gradually, the cow's body temperature will drop. When does it occur?
For young Castle, less than 3 weeks old, it's threshold at 15 °C for cars a little bit older, 4 to 6 weeks, 6 degrees. So especially the very young calves. Are highly susceptible to cold stress issues.
Protocol elements for cold stress cases, 10. Issues. First of all, be sure that the farmer provides a good start the 1st 48 hours.
Dry the cough. Give 4 litre colostrum within 12 hours. Appropriate navel dipping twice.
A thick straw layer and provide a blanket or a heater. Feed the colostom for 3 to 5 days minimum. Keep the bedding each day clean.
Dry, thick straw layer. Has to be cleaned out often. Provide full adequate ventilation without any draughts.
If there is a real cold stress. Make the farmer give an extra meal for more energy, for example, increasing the percentage of fat in the ration. Or give 3/4 or 1 kilogramme more milk powder to get that energy.
Increase the number of meals per day from 2 to 3 meals. Give the milk at 38 °C temperature. And a hot warm water to drink 30 minutes later.
In very extreme cold situations, the farmer could 100 to 150 grammes of 60% fat in milk for the 1st 14 days of life. And again, be constantly strict in the feeding hours. High quality starter pellets with 18 to 22% protein can be given from day 3 onwards.
Still, Provide ample water. Cars from dystopia dams will make a poor start in life. They will not stand up properly.
Rather late They will show high blood CO2 and low blood pH levels, acidosis. They will not drink colostom by themselves easily. These calves are prone for early killing as a heifer.
And even if they start prediction. The lifespan will be shortened and they will not have had the programme, the proper programming. For dehorning calves.
A 10 point protocol. Dehauling is always painful. The horn the cops under the age of 6 weeks.
Restrain the cf properly. Clip hair around the butt. Sakov.
Inject the lidoca locally. The horn properly. And not too long.
This in fact give an IED as follow up against the pain. And don't forget to check the status the next day or next days. If you take this protocol to the fields and you observe how a farmer or farm worker is doing the dehorning.
You will be astonished to see that one or several of these points are not. Applied. Weaning of the cars.
Just a reminder. Reading is probably the most stressful event in the whole bovine life. Even more stressful than coughing.
Winning leads to a sharp rise in rumen pH, which, after winning, declines during the next 6 weeks. It's often done too early. Leading to stress, diseases, disorders.
So it's a very I would say sophisticated manner to properly wean a calf. Should nothing be done abruptly. Never be done too early or too late, between 8 and 10 weeks.
The dietary volume. Should be reduced gradually from 40 days before to the wining date because it stimulates better feed intake, better growth, and better life performance. This is the clue, the key of proper weaning.
And do not combine various stresses at the same time, for example, chasing houses. Do the weaning Changing feats. Transport the calves.
And treat them for several. Events, so to say, including disease. So The last points and the preceding one.
Are the basis of proper weaning. Gross is. A parameter Which can be used at different critical periods in life, or critical age moments, birth waning, 3 months of age, 6 months of age, and even later on, at puberty.
And it's coughing. Target body weights. Which can be measured, so to say, by using This device.
Where the centimetres are impressed on one side and the converted kilogrammes at the other side. So in the table 45 kilogrammes. Is 75 centimetres of girth measurement.
One should always aim for a stable, steady growth, so checking, monitoring growth is a very important. Tool to assess the Rearing period. You could always look for simple issues like the photograph, the right, downside.
Where the farmer is using just a rope. Because he has a rope, for example, of 97 centimetres of 108 centimetres, or even 128 centimetres. In that way, he can check easily with just a rope.
Whether their target values are achieved or not. It's up to the farmer as long as the farmer or a coworker. Who is assigned to do the monitoring of carve growth.
Do the monitoring and racquet the event in a calf growth performance lock. About evaluation analysis. In order to be able to conduct an evaluation or analysis, one needs calf rearing data.
It's obvious. Therefore, attention is given to the event locks, the corostrum lock, the milk replacer lock, the event lock, and the growth performing lock. There are not big books.
Just sheets. And every time that a sheet is filled, the veterinarian can already check whether there are deviations or not, just using the different colours. The red ones for truly deviant animals and maybe.
For the first alarm that something wrong is going on. The second requirement is to have a list of performance standards. To be compared to the data that have been collected.
And the 3rd requirement is that the veterinarian should invest time. In the case of infectious diseases, laboratory results on virus, bacteria, protozoa, parasites. Should be available to complete the analysis.
And finally, investigations, findings, data, conclusions are set in a written evaluation report or analysis report. These are the basic requirements. Maybe an investment of time from the side of the veterinarian, but it pays off.
Not in the least for the farmer, but also for the veterinarian, because the farmer sees that the veterinarian is truly looking to a potential problem in the rearing process. A list of varying performance parameters. Cases of diarrhoea, respiratory disease?
Features colour, consistency, hair coat condition. Mortality, weight gain, body weight, concentrates intake, age ad weaning with the standard reference figures at the right side. Of course, these performance parameters are related to the targets of youngster agreeing that we have set in the beginning.
This list is not complete. It gives you a view of what to look for. The 39 may add, of course, several other performance issues.
Like with the miraiser periods and the automatic feeder. The drinking speed pattern. Right or wrong, regular or irregular, can be added to this list.
For analysis of calf disorders. There's a standard comprising 12 points of attention. Addresses different things.
Like the overall health states of the calves, and healthcare measures taken if the veteran does not already know those things. What are the recent management events? Housing, climate, feet, disease?
He said the first probability diagnosis. He does a routine monitoring check on the healthy calves. There is another website, another webinar where routine monitoring checks on healthy animals are addressed.
Calling car signals. They do a clinical checkup on the G scalps. Routine monitoring on calf environments, looking for risk factors.
Take samples when indicated. What features urine. The vet narrows down the diagnosis based on the laboratory results.
He does an intervention if indicated drugs, maybe fluids. It gives the farmer instructions about the follow-up. The farmer may be asked to check rectal temperatures in indicated calves.
Look closer to fruit intake and maybe new cases. There always should be a follow-up on the development of the problem. That's why the routine monitoring against comes into the picture.
And again, I point you to the other webinar on cow signals to know where to look for. And constantly, the vet should inform the farmer about the steps the vet is taking. He should explain We should discuss with Farmer.
And when there is an action plan, also the action plan should be discussed with the farmer to see whether it's acceptable, compatible to farm management or not. At the conclusion, This presentation was about process approach of calf rearing, methodological, it's very welcomed by the farmer because the farmer sees what you are doing. If explained, he can follow himself 1 step, each step you are taking.
And it gives some clear views on what's you're finding. On what's going on and what should be done. It's truly welcomed by the farmer.
The vet needs to invest time for the benefit of the farmer, and of course, of him or herself. But he needs to explain each step and the action he makes. The routine monitoring, as already said, is highly helpful in these analysis, especially with regard to an action plan.
Farm visits are the centre point for evaluation and analysis. If appropriate, the veterinarian may define working instructions, for example, how to use the colossum feeding, just one page or give hands-on training when he sees that the farm worker or the farmer is not very Handy with applying a lustrom feeding feeder, for example. In that way, the veter becomes the process coach for farmers and farm workers, and that will be beneficial for both parties, because if the farmer farm workers are much more motivated and stimulated, the work of the veterinarian becomes much more pleasant and interesting.
Thank you for your attention and I wish you good luck. Stay safe and stay healthy.