Autumn calving: Calf management during the weaning period
With the breeding season kicking off this week alongside Christmas, it is easy to disregard the few late autumn calvers.
Maintaining a high standard of calf care is essential to ensure the calves get the most from their early development and achieve their growth targets.
Late calvers will still require the same feed and colostrum management despite the season getting busy.
Meanwhile, calves born in October will be making the transition from monogastric to ruminant animals, relying on solids such as silage, hay, and concentrates for nutrients rather than milk.
For these calves to have a successful weaning, farmers need to balance between achieving an adequate growth rate and promoting rumen development.
Calf management
As we all know, calves are dependent on milk as a source of nutrition for the first week of their lives as their digestion takes place in the abomasum.
Good nutritional management during this time will help develop their rumen and let them smoothly transition to a solid diet.
Ideally calves should be weaned off milk in or around 10-weeks-of-age, however this can vary depending on weight.
Calves should ideally be more than 80kg and in a good physical condition before they are weaned.
Before a calf is weaned, they should be eating at least 1kg of calf starter crunch a day for at least three consecutive days.
This meal should be offered to them fresh every day in the lead-up to weaning.
Generally, gradual weaning is achieved by reducing the volume of milk fed over a period of seven to 10 days.
If calves are being fed milk twice a day, weaning can be achieved by cutting down to once-a-day feeding.
Calves should eating the following amount of calf starter meal per age:
| Age | Starter intakes |
|---|---|
| 0 to two weeks | Minimal |
| Two to three weeks | Start to increase |
| Five weeks | 0.5kg/day |
| Six to eight weeks | 0.7-1kg/day |
| Eight weeks | At least 1kg/day |
Calves should also have access to hay or straw as a bit of roughage in the diet, as its fibre is also very important for the development of the rumen.
A calf requires 4-5L of water for every 1kg of concentrates, so provide calves with clean, fresh water at all times.
Get any stressful jobs out of the way before weaning, such as vaccinating or disbudding, to ensure they continue to thrive.
Getting these early management practices right will help put the calf on the right path to ensuring they join the future milking herd.
