For Patrick and Valerie Sheehy, it starts with meticulous calf management, high-quality nutrition and investing heavily during the first 70 days of life.

Patrick Sheehy and his daughter Valerie milk 100 pedigree Holstein Friesian cows near Ballingarry, Co. Limerick.

It is a spring-calving, grass-based system with a strong focus on genetics, animal health, and producing cows that perform.

Valerie, a qualified vet, plays a central role in both the breeding programme and calf management on the farm, both of which have a major impact on animal and overall farm performance.

Patrick said: “Valerie and I work together on the farm.

"She also works in the local veterinary practice and focuses mainly on breeding and calf management on the farm."

This combination of first-hand veterinary knowledge and advice, coupled with Patrick's experience, gives the Sheehys an edge in getting calves off to the right start.

Calving and colostrum management

The Sheehys start calving on the first of February each year, with heifers calving down first, followed by the main herd.

Patrick and Valerie use 100% artificial insemination (AI), and started using sexed semen on the heifers three years ago.

"This spring, 15 of the 23 heifers held to sexed semen from the first round, which we’re happy with.

"This year is also our first year using sexed semen on the cows," Patrick said.

From the moment the calf is born, the focus on the Sheehy farm is colostrum.

Getting the right volume of high-quality colostrum into the calf as quickly as possible is one of the most important things a farmer can do for calf health.

Colostrum contains essential antibodies that provide a newborn calf with passive immunity, protection it cannot produce on its own.

Patrick and Valerie are part of the Johne's Control Programme, which recommends that calves are fed their own mother's colostrum to help reduce the risk of disease transmission when Johne’s status is known.

The cows are also vaccinated three weeks before calving, making it even more important that each calf receives its own dam's colostrum to maximise the protection passed from cow to calf against rotavirus and coronavirus.

After the colostrum period, calves are individually penned before receiving an RSV Pi3 intranasal vaccine on day five to help protect against respiratory disease.

Moving on to the automatic feeder

At day 10, calves move onto the Urban Alma Pro Fit Plus automatic calf feeder, set up in pens of 15, with four pens running during peak season.

Patrick has been using an Urban feeder for 13 years and upgraded to the new model this year through Hackett Dairy Services."I didn’t get a quote for any other feeder. I got great service for the last 13 years, so I decided to go again as good service is so important," he said.

Feed For Growth (Volac Milk Replacers Ireland) business manager Sharon O'Donoghue works with Patrick and Valerie before each calving season to review the feeding programme, calibrate the feeder and tailor the feeding curve.

This on-farm support helps ensure calves get the best possible start and gives the Sheehys confidence that everything is set up correctly before the busy spring season begins.

Flourish Calf milk replacer

Following discussions with Sharon O'Donoghue, the Sheehys introduced Flourish Calf milk replacer, a 100% dairy protein product with a 50% skim milk inclusion rate.

Calves start on 6L per day, building to 8L spread across four feeds daily, and fed at a 15% concentration.

The feeding programme is managed by the feeder, including gradually weaning calves off milk, reducing the workload on Patrick and Valerie, plus reducing the stress on the calves.

Alongside Flourish Calf, calves have access to ad lib pellet nuts and fresh straw from day one.

Access to concentrate and roughage is essential for the development of a calf’s digestive system.

Before weaning, calves on the Sheehy farm were eating 3kg of pellet nuts daily, which prepares these calves for a stress-free weaning and prevents their growth from regressing.

Patrick quickly noticed improvements after introducing Flourish Calf.

He said: "We introduced Flourish this year, which has been great.

"The calves also seem much fuller and content."

Valerie has also been pleased with the calves' progress.

She said: "As a vet, you're always looking for healthy, content calves that continue to grow consistently.

"That's exactly what we've seen this season."

Weaning performance

The Sheehy farm’s stand-out result is this year’s spring calf crop, with calves averaging 112kg at weaning, demonstrating the success of the nutrition programme, feeding consistency, and effective management by Patrick and Valerie.

Maximising calf performance from birth to weaning is a vital period in setting those calves up to be successful milking cows.

The investment during this period is rewarded during the cow’s entire productive life in the herd.

Patrick said: "I'm very impressed with how the calves have performed this year.

"The results have given us real confidence in our calf management, and we'll continue looking at ways to improve efficiencies while maintaining the high standard we've achieved."

The 'Feed for Growth: Your Partner for Calf Performance' is a collaboration between Agriland and Feed For Growth (Volac Milk Replacers Ireland).