Michael and Raymond Kelly manage a dairy herd just outside Cahir in Co. Tipperary. The brothers keep all the calves on the farm with the bulls being reared to store or finishing cattle.
All calves receive colostrum immediately after birth, which the Kelly brothers believe is the key to getting their calves off to the best start in life.
All calves remain on transition milk for 10–14 days in groups of 6-10, after which they are then penned into groups of 20 and transitioned onto Dairygold’s Prime Elite 25 Plus calf milk replacer.
Calf nutrition
Heifer calves are transitioned onto Prime Elite 25 Plus to ensure optimum frame growth and mammary development, while beef calves are transitioned onto Prime Elite 23 for carcass gain.
Calves are fed 5L of milk replacer/day at a mixing rate of 125g:875ml of water, and each calf consumes 625g of calf milk replacer/day.
All calves have access to ad lib straw, fresh drinking water and concentrate feed.
As soon as calves are introduced to Dairygold’s Prime Calf Elite 25 Plus calf milk replacer, they receive Prime Course Calf Starter for the first 5-10 days. They are then offered Prime Elite Krispi Kaf and Prime Elite Kaf Pride for a further 3-4 weeks.
From weeks 6-8, depending on weather, calves have access to grass and are moved to larger groups of 40.
By ten weeks of age, they are fully weaned and out on grass full-time.
Calf performance
Due to the high-quality whey protein in Prime Elite 25 Plus, the Kelly farm has seen a huge difference in their calves.
“Prime Elite 25 Plus allows our calves to get off to a great start in life, giving them the best possible opportunity to double their birth weight by the time they are weaned. It is easy to mix and the calves like it,” Michael said.
“Dairygold’s Prime Elite 25 Plus calf milk replacer gives the calves a better frame which allows for excellent subsequent confirmation and calves seem to grow more uniformly.
“It gives great peace of mind knowing that the feed they are getting is of a consistent quality every single day,” Raymond added.
The Kelly brothers use 10 and 20 teat-milk bar feeders and a trail feeder with 50 teats to feed their calves. The manufacturing process of the Dairygold’s Prime Elite range allows for easy mixing in cold or hot water.
Calf nutrition via milk replacer
The key ingredient in Dairygold’s Prime Elite calf milk replacer range is Imunopro.
Imunopro contains:
- Over 4.5% IgG which are responsible for the calf health found in colostrum;
- High levels of key amino acids for growth and development;
- High levels of bovine milk oligosaccharides which help develop a healthy gut bacteria population;
- High levels of lactoferrin, which is important for gut health and has been shown to reduce scour.
Imunopro is carefully blended at low temperatures to insure all the ingredients are evenly combined and that none of the proteins are denatured. The blend is balanced with the correct levels of proteins, fats and sugars for maximum growth and development of the calf.
Once blended in the liquid phase, it is then spray dried to ensure great mixability, palatability and consistency.
Dairygold’s Prime Elite 23 contains Gardion gut conditioner which is derived from garlic. It enhances the immune system of the calf, helping to improve the gut health in the calf which is important to maintain good growth and thrive.
“Since using Prime Elite 23 to rear our beef calves we have found a significant reduction in scour and sick calves – our calves are thriving and that is due to a good quality milk replacer,” Michael said.
Both milk replacers have added technologies:
- Acidification: Helps to maintain optimum gut conditions encouraging beneficial gut bacteria and discouraging the pathogens that cause scours and limit performance;
- Gardion: A garlic extract (Allin) helps to reduce the colonisation of pathogenic bacteria in the gut. Pathogenic bacteria cause scours and limit performance.
Prime Elite 25 Plus has the added benefit of digestarom, a blend of plant based essential oils (cinnamon, liquorice, vanilla). This is unique to Dairygold in Ireland and is an antioxidant, antiviral, and anti-inflammatory.
Expert advice
Dairygold Agri farm support lead, Aoife Bergin has undertaken extensive training with calf milk replacer suppliers and manufacturers.
Aoife can advise on milk replacer formulations, feeding systems and optimum feeding rates to help ensure that your feeding regime delivers maximum calf health and performance.
You can contact Aoife on; 087 189 8417 or [email protected].
Information is also available from your local Dairygold area sales manager or from Dairygold’s Inside Sales Team on; 022 31644, or by clicking here.
