DFA Animal Nutrition FAQS

There are various calf feeding programs, each tailored to the specific needs of a farm’s facilities and management practices. Similar to managing the nutrition of a lactating herd, the focus for calves is on dry matter intake. The current recommendation is to provide calves with 2.0-2.5 pounds of dry matter intake daily at peak milk consumption. This is typically achieved through a gradual increase in milk, followed by a step-down process during weaning. There are multiple approaches to achieve feeding 2.0-2.5 pounds of intake, so it is important to work with your calf specialist to develop a program that fits your operation’s needs.

No, studies have shown that even newborn calves will drink one quart of free water intake per day. Calves fed up to 10 quarts of milk daily will still drink a quart of water daily. Factors such as heat may also further increase water intake. Limiting water intake limits dry matter intake. Research has shown that calves without adequate free water intake ate 31% less calf grain and gained 38% less weight over a 4-week period than calves with constant access to water. Calves should always have ad-lib access to clean, fresh water.

Larger volumes of milk fed throughout the day can be successfully delivered using automatic calf feeding systems with no noticeable increase in scours. This mirrors the situation when cows suckle calves. However, variations in daily feeding volumes can lead to mild digestive disturbances. If calves are fed highly contaminated milk, this may expose them to more disease-causing organisms and overwhelm the calves' natural defenses. High-volume feeding may also provide intestinal conditions suitable for pathogens to multiply due to changes in digestion such as transit time, pH, or volume of liquid contents. Farmers sometimes observe that calves fed on high volumes of milk tend to have looser stools. Feeding greater amounts of liquid feeds may increase the water content of the calf’s stools while the dry matter component remains the same. In these cases, the calf may not be suffering any ill effects.

Waste milk from sick cows can often contain pathogens, antibiotic residues, mastitis, or blood. All these can cause digestive upsets, disease, and scours in calves.

It used to be thought that a rapid, abrupt weaning process was best for calves. However, this has been shown to result in a post-weaning loss of live weight due to the rumen of the calves being underdeveloped. The development of rumen papillae takes around three weeks. Calves feel full when fed large volumes of milk or milk with higher solids. Adapting a step-down weaning process to encourage greater calf grain intake and improved rumen development would be recommended. Talk with your calf specialist for a customized weaning plan for your farm and situation.

Some farmers are concerned that fast-growing calves may end up with udder issues due to excess fat deposition — a condition known as Fatty Udder Syndrome. The udder has three distinct growth phases:

• Phase 1: Isometric growth, where udder grows at the same rate as general body growth (birth–12 weeks)
• Phase 2: Allometric, where udder grows faster than general body growth (from 12 weeks to 12 months)
• Phase 3: Isometric growth (12–24 months). No significant detrimental effects have been seen on the udder from feeding for rapid growth during the first 8–12 weeks of life (Phase 1).

This contrasts with the research investigating the impact of high growth rates from weaning to puberty (Phase 2), where the results do not provide a clear answer.

If you are breeding heifers with superior genetics to improve your herd’s performance, you must ensure that these genes are expressed. This depends partly on how calves are fed early in life. Evidence is accumulating that milk not only provides nutrients for growth but also contains factors that can turn on genes that improve future production characteristics in heifers, such as udder tissue development and milk production. However, to lock in the lifetime production benefits of accelerated calf rearing, you must maintain good growth rates throughout the post-weaning period to ensure heifers achieve their target live weights at calving.

Take half the required warm water volume and mix in the required volume of powder. Then, top up to the required volume of milk. Make sure milk is 100 degrees Fahrenheit at feeding. In cooler weather, you may need to make your milk slightly warmer to allow for heat loss in cooler climates. Talk to your calf specialists for milk temperature recommendations on your farm.

To effectively clean calf feeding equipment, follow the sanitation guidelines from Dr. Don Sockett at the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Veterinary Medicine. Many recommended cleaning chemicals are likely already available on your farm, as the process is similar to cleaning milk house equipment. Here’s a summary of the steps:

• Rinse: Begin by rinsing all equipment with lukewarm water.
• Wash: Clean the equipment with an alkaline detergent, ensuring the solution has a pH of 11-12. (Check the detergent’s activation temperature; some require temperatures above 160°F.)
• Acid Rinse: Perform a cold-water acid rinse with a solution having a pH of 3-4.
• Dry: Allow the equipment to air dry without stacking it.
• Sanitize: Finally, spray all equipment with a 50-100ppm chlorine dioxide solution. (This should be done within two hours of the next use).