Paul & Melanie
Chittenden—Alan (dairy mgr), Nathan (heifer mgr), Brian (farm mgr)
101 Running Creek Rd --
Schodack Landing, NY 12078
[near Albany, SE New York]
Interview with Melanie—she feeds calves with son
Nathan. As they milk 360 cows, they
are dealing with large numbers of calves born year around. Herd is expanding to 600 cows, from natural
increase – ie, successful breeding program and competent calf/heifer rearing
program.
Calving is in a pack barn addition on W side of a
free stall barn set up for dry cows and close-up bred heifers. Cows receive usual vaccinations in head
locks of dry cow barn. In specific
case of J-5 [mastitis] vaccine, only give one shot dry, second shot after
calving—to avoid experience they were having with aborted calves (born
early, backwards and not surviving).
They experience calf sizes from 40 pounds to 70
pounds. The selection trend in the
herd has been in favor of a larger, stronger Jersey, thus the increasing calf
sizes. Melanie noted range of size
has to be factored into calf care—the little ones need concentrated nutrition,
the big ones do better with an extra mid-day feeding to keep them growing.
Colostrum from momma is given at birth, with a
target volume of two-three quarts depending on size at birth. In the past year they started adding a
package of an immunoglobulin product , “Alta-Gold” [ footnote 1] to insure the level of antibodies received by
the calf is adequate to the need.
They use a “colostrometer” to check density of colostrum, as one
maternal line had been discovered that seems to be routinely deficient—those
calves receive stored colostrums.
Melanie notes the significance of the wide range of bf%
and pr% tests modern Jerseys produce can have an effect on the “value” of
momma’s milk—a cow testing 6%bf is going to have 50% more digestible fat
in her milk than a cow testing 4%.
She strongly recommends, in the case of feeding whole milk, that
Holstein and/or lower test Jersey momma’s milk be supplemented with the
addition of a high fat milk replacer to insure the calf is getting “Jersey”
nutrient density.
Calf pens are individual 4 x 8 inside a cold high roofline pole barn that is
directly E side of the dry cow/calving barn, solid dividers so calves cannot
kiss each other. In extreme cold
weather “Woolover” calf jackets are used (prefers “Woolover” type jacket due to
ability to wick moisture away from calf’s hide). Special needs calves may get a heat lamp
for a bit. [footnote 2]
These pens get shavings for bedding, to absorb urine. In cold weather, straw is added on
top. Melanie believes the straw should
be used year round, as young calves (not receiving hay) may want to chew on
something with fiber, the straw would be safe, but the shavings are not.
They were losing calves when feeding conventional milk
replacers (Cargill was mentioned). So
currently use “Renaissance 22/20 milk replacer” medicated with Oxytetracycline
and Neomycin (medication is used due to prior pneumonia experiences). There is no vegetable-based protein (ie,
soy powder) in this replacer—it is all milk.
There is also a yeast ingredient to stimulate the early rumen
development. She mentioned they
have also had good luck with IBA’s “Winter Care” milk replacer, the
“Renaissance” is a regional (PA) brand they obtain at favorable prices.
50 degrees F is seen as the benchmark temp for supplemental
mid-day feeding, in which they use an electrolyte product with microflora,
diluted in warm water. Only one quart
is given at the mid-day feeding, but two quarts is normal for the am and pm
milk feedings. The idea is to avoid
loss of body heat that will lead to other problems. As calves get bigger, say a month old, the
mid-day electrolytes are replaced with a third milk feeding. [footnote 2]
She does not force a newborn to eat her full feed each
feeding. She says that if they got a
full load of colostrum day one, then take their full bottle day two am, by next
feeding, they may not be hungry enough to eat a full bottle. Feed them to appetite, then stop—next
feeding they will be hungrier. Force
feeding just seems to lead to scours, and then you fight a battle you might
lose. If calf is normal, they will be
up to full intake within a week.
Calf starter is provided from birth in a “Braden” feeding
bottle. Melanie believes this feeder
has these advantages: (1) Jersey calves like to suck something—the
Braden feeder uses nipple shaped ends that attract the calf; (2)
Sucking the Braden nipple releases grain into the calf’s mouth, thus
they will be introduced to grain without hand-forcing; (3)
The design minimizes grain loss, as the calf cannot contaminate the
grain in the feeder [as happens with buckets they can climb in, slobber over,
or back up to]. The grain stays dry
and thus fresher.
Fresh water is offered the
calves while still on milk, as they need to learn to drink it prior to weaning. Hay is first introduced after weaning. [footnote 3]
It seemed to be Melanie’s
opinion (she grew up with Guernseys,
married into Jerseys) that we lose more
Jersey calves from damp environments and inadequate nutrition, than we ever
lose from missing a vaccination. The
Jersey calf is born without fat reserves in her body, which makes her different
from a Holstein or Brown Swiss calf—thus from day one and until weaned, high fat, high protein, high
digestibility milk is the feed
of choice. [footnote 4]
She saw the use of pasteurized
whole milk as fully equivalent to using a premium milk replacer, but she
cautioned we recognize that “whole milk” from high production Holsteins might
only be 3.3% butterfat and 2.8% protein – thus starts out at almost half the
expectation of Jersey genes that momma is going to feed her baby 6.0% butterfat
and 4.0% protein milk. Thus, in a
whole milk feeding system, she suggests we buy some good milk replacer, and add
half a cup to the milk as fed, and see if you keep calves alive that way. [footnote 5]
She also suggests we avoid “cow
grain” going into calves until past weaning, when they are also eating some
hay. Calf grain needs to not have fine
particles in it that aggravate the calf lungs as a dust inhaled from eating the
grain. [footnote 6]
[end of interview] Thank you to Melanie for her
willingness to share her experiences.
This interview was conducted at Dutch Hollow Jerseys by
Greg Palen on Feb 18, 2009.
[footnote 1] Another successful brand widely available
in Michigan is “Colostrix”.
[footnote 2] Jersey calves in outdoor hutches in cold
winter also benefit from bedding to trap body heat, due to thinner muscle/fat
cover, and in our opinion, the calf jackets are a must when using hutches for
similar reasons. I saw bedding packs
in all the hutches at Den-Kel Jerseys (Kip and Robin Keller, Byron NY) the day
before visiting Dutch Hollow.
In hot summer a Jersey calf in an
outdoor hutch that traps sun heat might also benefit from a mid-day feed of
electrolytes and water, just to avoid dehydration??
[footnote 3] The feed company prohibition against
feeding calves “hay” is based on a blanket assumption that a “dairyman” would
only raise “alfalfa”. The rumen needs
about four months’ development before it can process alfalfa, thus feeding it
earlier tends to scour calves. BUT if
you have access to nice soft “grass” hay, a calf can eat that from day one, and
it will dramatically improve the growth rate and shorten the weaning period for
a Jersey calf, but requires water be available at the same time (chewing on the
hay will make them thirsty).
[footnote 4] John P Reber DVM, who both breeds Jerseys
and practices as a veterinarian in a large number of Jersey herds around
Wooster OH, says that in his experience, when called out to treat a sick Jersey
calf, if they still die, the cause is frequently “starvation”. In his experience you can feed a Jersey
calf as much as a Holstein calf, after a few days of working them up to it.
[footnote 5] Until the renaissance in Jerseys in the
1980s, Jersey bloodlines were regionalized and the type of Jersey preferred in
the deep south and arid west tended to be a smaller, fine bone cow that milked
heavier but tested lower (southern milk marketing still avoids paying for
solids values—high milk, low test% bulls remain more popular there than in
Midwest and Northeast).
My question is—as those cattle never
experience winter, do they have a reduced ability to make colostrums with the
density of immunoglobulins to get a cold climate calf to live and grow??
[footnote 6] We went through a winter where we were
losing calves closely after weaning, and our veterinarian eventually said they
were dying of Mycoplasmic Pneumonia.
The source of the mycotoxins was the ground corn in our weaning
transition grain mix—the fine particles and mold particles would be inhaled by
the calf while eating, and they basically foamed up in their lungs. We went back to the calf starter for two
more months, and the problem went away.
No comments:
Post a Comment