The total number of calves registered in 2023 has doubled in a week, signalling the start of the 2023 calving season on farms.
In the week ending January 27, a total of 43,782 calves were registered on Irish farms, according to the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF).
This has doubled the total figure for the year to date, which now stands at 82,308.
However, it appears to be a slow start to the 2023 calving season, with these figures being down on 2022.
In 2022, 96,200 calves had been registered at this point, and as there has only been 82,308 registered in 2023 so far – this is a decrease of 13,892 head.
The registrations are also down compared to the same week in 2022, with 7,892 less calves being registered.
Calving season
A total of 34,616 calves were registered to dairy dams in the week ending January 27, which is 6,432 fewer than the same period in 2022.
Overall, calves registered to dairy dams stands at 56,483, which is 10,398 fewer head that 2022.
The number of calves registered to beef dams is also down on 2022 figures with 3,493 fewer calves registered so far this year.
Some 9,166 calves were registered to beef dams in the week ending January 27; this is 1,460 behind the same period in 2022 when 10,626 were registered.
Calf registrations up to and including the week ending January 2023:
- Dairy calf births: 56,483 (+34,616);
- Beef calf births: 25,825 (+9,166);
- Total births: 82,308 (+43,782).
Teat or Tube?
The arrival of calves means the feeding of colostrum to these calves to ensure they get the best start to life.
The question then is which method is better to feed colostrum to young calves -through a teat feeder or a stomach tube.
The preferred method of feeding calves colostrum is through a teat feeder or a bottle with a teat on it. This is because teat feeding stimulates the natural reflex closure of the oesophageal groove, which means that the colostrum is deposited directly into the abomasum.
Fluid delivered by a tube feeder does not stimulate this reflex closure and thus fluid is deposited into the first three stomachs.
However, research has shown that the level of immunoglobulins in the blood of calves fed using the two methods is the same.
Ultimately, both methods are effective at feeding calves colostrum, so it really comes down to preference and/or time.