COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • FEBRUARY 2020


Boosting calf health starts before birth


Less stress at birth reduces future problems


by TOM WALKER VERNON – Jeanette Perry


practices large animal medicine at White Valley Veterinarian Services in Lumby. She spoke on early calf survival at the North Okanagan Livestock Association educational seminar in Vernon on January 15. Perry discussed data from


two recent research studies in Western Canada. “The studies were both done on working ranches, so it’s real in-the-field data,” Perry notes.


The first was aimed at


developing benchmarks for calf survival, giving producers an idea of typical calf survival rates in a well-managed herd. “In this study, people were


doing really well with their calving rates,” says Perry. The five-year study found that the top 25% of herds had a mortality rate of 1% or less for both cows and heifers in the first 24 hours after birth. An average loss during the first 24 hours after birth was 2% for cows and 2.5% for heifers, and the upper range of losses was 4.8% for cows and 11.5% for heifers. There wasn’t a difference


between large or small herds or commercial or purebred, but there was a difference between when ranchers calved out, Perry says. “Producers who chose to


calve out in December and January paid about a 1-2%


penalty,” says Perry. “More of those early calves died, while April to May births survived the best.”


The first 24 hours was the most crucial time, notes Perry. More than half of all calf deaths recorded in the study were in the first 24 hours.


Improving survival


Perry discussed management strategies to improve calf survival. She reviewed a study that looked at poor calf performance after assisted births and made recommendations on how to support those at-risk animals. “Anything we can do in


that key 24 hours that decreases that distressed birth is going to have big impacts,” says Perry. “Distressed births that survive are four to five times more likely to get sick later in life.” The study also scored the assisted-birth calves for vigour. “Within five to 10 minutes of calving, they noted if they were meconium stained, whether they had tongue withdrawal reflex and a suckle reflex,” she says. “Meconium staining and poor tongue withdrawal are the top predictors of calves that will do poorly.” It is important to record and study your distressed births, says Perry. “It isn’t just pulling the calf


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The first 24 hours of a calf's life are the most important. LIZ TWAN FILE PHOTO


20th


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