This dairy advice article hones in on the need to get your sheds in order this autumn/winter to have them fully prepared, cleaned and disinfected for the coming spring.
We are now approaching that time of the year where farmers question whether cows need to be housed full-time and preparing themselves for drying off, all in a lead up to start the calving process again in February 2025.
One aspect of this preparation for calving, needs to be getting your calf sheds and calving facilities in order so that you are not in a rush when cows are calving.
Spring won’t be long coming around, so now is a good time, just before drying off, to get a start at cleaning the calf shed.
Dairy advice
Most dairy farms in the country operate a spring-calving system, meaning that the spring time is the busiest time of the year and additional work should be avoided.
When conditions are still holding up and cows are gradually coming in for housing, it is hard to look beyond the cow shed and finishing out grazing, but farmers need to find time in the next couple of weeks.
The calf shed should be powerwashed or steam washed and disinfected before calves start dropping next spring.
If you experienced some disease issues last year in the shed like pneumonia or scour, now is the time to try and prevent those diseases from lingering this spring.
If it was pneumonia that was the issue, the ventilation and air-flow in the shed may have to be looked at, making sure fresh air can get in and out.
For problems like scour, the hygiene of the pens may have not been kept up to scratch and a disinfectant that is known to work against the scour-causing bacteria should be purchased.
Spraying down the shed, gates, feeders and troughs with the disinfectant, should help eliminate the cause of the problem for next year.
All gates should be removed and thoroughly washed down, along with all feeders, including all meal troughs, hay racks and water troughs.
All steel, timber and concrete in the area where calves are housed to ensure that you limit all disease causing bacteria in the shed.
This process should be done over the next couple of weeks to make sure that it is done thoroughly.