Page 45 - BCHNews-122023-Web

Caring For Calves Serena Harris, Young Animal Specialist,
Grober Nutrition
When deciding to build a new calf barn or retrofit your existing facility to work with an automatic feeding system, there are a number of factors to consider.
The most important feature in a calf barn is ventilation. It can make or break a good calf barn. You want to achieve four air exchanges per minute during the winter and 40-60 air exchanges per minute during the summer. While it seems like a lot of ventilation, we have to remember that calves less than 30 days of age breathe 24-26 times per minute compared to a resting human at 12-16 breaths per minute. When designing a calf barn, you need to design it for the calf, not for the human. Ensure that you test the ventilation where the calves will be housed, not the aisles where the humans will be.
Next is space requirements. When looking at calves on automatic calf feeders in a group pen setting, the gold standard for space is 35 square feet of laying space. You also want to plan for how many calves you think you are going to need in the future. If your goal is to grow your herd, then you should plan enough space for how many calves you will be raising in the future. One of the biggest issues that we see on-farm is lack of space. You will also need an area to house your youngest calves until they are ready to be put onto your automatic calf feeder. This area would ideally be individual pens to allow for close observation and can be easily cleaned out between calves.
Once calves are ready to be weaned, they should stay in the same pen that they were fed milk in for a couple of weeks before being moved. This will allow them to adjust to the change in diet. It’s important to give them enough space to have a successful weaning. When you’re looking at the number of calves you will be housing, it’s important that you’re accounting for those calves that are going to be sticking around for an extra week or two.
When deciding which milk replacer to feed in your automatic calf feeder, it is important to look at the ingredients. Is it made with liquid fat or dry fat? A milk replacer made with dry fat will flow through the machine better than products made with liquid fat. A formula made with all liquid fat can cause more build up in the lines and can cause bridging of the powder when dispensing. A small amount of liquid fat inclusion in a dry fat formula may be used for better mixability and wettability, however, lines must be monitored to ensure no build up. You want to ensure milk replacer bags are stored in a cool dry location that is easily accessible from the feeder.
When planning out your retrofit or new build, you will also want to start thinking about your new labour schedule. Come up with a written protocol for checking calves and the machine daily. You need to be diligent about checking your animals for early signs of illness which will often also be flagged by your machine. Include a schedule for checking the machine, nipples, and lines for cleanliness. It is very important with automatic feeding systems to keep them as clean as possible to decrease the risk of bacteria spreading within your herd. Keep in mind an automatic feeding system is not a labour saver. Your labour will be allocated to other areas within your calf program to raise successful calves.
When building or retrofitting a calf barn for an automatic feeder, take your time designing it and think about everything that will go into your new daily routine. If done right, an automatic feeding system can be a great addition to your operation.
CHRISTMAS 2023  WC DAIRY NEWS 45
D D e e s s i i g g n n i i n n g g a a c c a a l l f f b b a a r r n n f fo o r r a a n n a a u u t to o m m a a t t i i c c f fe e e e d d i i n n g g s sy ys s t te e m m
SEE WHAT YOUR CALVES CAN ACHIEVETM
AchieveTM 24/22 is a unique fat focused formulation, designed for cold weather feeding.
Don’t sacrifice growth in the colder months, find out what your calves can achieve with the right milk replacer.
Talk to your DairyCrop team today:
Gerry DeGroot 604.819.4139 James Robinson 236.986.7693 Evan Davidson 604.991.6708
GroberNutrition.com | 1.800.265.7863 |