Paying adequate attention to a calf in its first stage of life will pay off in its productive stage.
the first 30 days of life. For the most part, this must come from milk. The faster the calf gets access to colostrum and gains the desired daily growth, the faster it will be a mature and pregnant heifer that can start producing milk.” “Basically, there are two factors of great importance for a pro- ductive cow,” he continues. “Firstly, there must be stress-free calving conditions, allowing the mother cow to pay full atten- tion to calving, to the newborn calf and to quick recovery. Secondly, feeding colostrum to the calf must be done correct- ly. Many farmers tend to pasteurise and store colostrum in a freezer, without even registering which cow the colostrum comes from. However, while storing colostrum in a freezer af- ter pasteurisation does prevent 60% of it spoiling if not pas- teurised, this is the second best solution. The best solution is
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16 ▶DAIRY GLOBAL | Volume 7, No. 2, 2020
to feed the colostrum to the calf immediately after birth, and feed the next batch within 8–12 hours; that batch must be kept in a refrigerator in the meantime. The very best solution is to create a circumstance where the calf has immediate access to fresh colostrum from its own mother. Make sure that it drinks 4 litres within the first half hour after birth. That is quite easy. The calf will like it, as it gets a fully prepared warm meal. It is “liquid gold”. But it is ab- solutely necessary to feed the calf colostrum from its own mother. They belong to each other, in terms of immunity. Colostrum contains immunoglobulins which are of great im- portance for the newborn calf to activate its immune system. Moreover, colostrum contains live cells from the mother (lym- phocytes, leucocytes and macrophages) which will be adopt- ed by the body of the calf and thus creates direct immunity. Surplus colostrum that was not given immediately to the calf can be collected and kept in a refrigerator and fed to the calf within 8–12 hours. A very easy way to warm this colostrum is by using a regular soup kettle warmer. The colostrum must have a temperature of around 39˚C when it is fed to the calf. At least 6 litres of first colostrum should be fed to the calf within 12 hours. Best practice is to feed colostrum three times per day for 3–5 days and then (powdered) milk three times a day for the first two weeks.”
Pamper pen and cuddle box All the above steps are logical, but how can this be managed in practice? “A very useful system is to create a ‘pamper pen’ which is located adjacent to the dry cow group,” Driessen
PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK
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