The cost of rearing a heifer to calve at 24 months is approximately €1,500 with heifer rearing representing up to 20% of a dairy farm’s expenses.

The main objectives of good heifer rearing is to ensure optimal lifetime productivity:

Heifers to calve at 22-24 months weighing 85-90% of mature body weight i.e. 500-550kg
Heifers to calve at the beginning of the calving season to maximise grass use and to ensure a tight calving pattern in future.

Growth rates and age at first calving influences how much milk a cow produces over her lifetime and how long she lasts in the herd.

The three Pillars of Good Heifer Rearing are:

Calf Health
Calf Nutrition
Good Breeding Programme

Good calf health begins with colostrum. Remember the 1-2-3 of colostrum management: 3L of the first milk within two hours. Calf scour is the number one killer of Irish calves less than one-month-old.

Calf pneumonia is the number one killer of Irish calves from one-month-old to 12 months of age.

Pneumonia Prevention in calves

Early protection against the most common viruses is recommended to prevent calf pneumonia. BRSV and Pi3 have been identified as two of the most common virus pneumonia infection in Irish calves.

Rispoval RS+Pi3 Intranasal is a single dose vaccine that can be administered from nine days of age which protects against both of these viruses within 5-10 days.

In the video below Cavan man, John Smith outlines how his 90 cow dairy herd dealt with pneumonia problems which were resulting in significant financial losses for his business.

Key points:

Calf pneumonia is the number one killer of animals less than 12 months in Ireland
Pneumonia in replacement heifer calves has a long-term impact on their lifetime productivity
Protect against RSV and Pi3 infection, 2 of the most common causes of virus pneumonia in calves, with Rispoval Intranasal vaccine from 9 days of age.

Heifer rearing is the most important annual investment on dairy farms. Optimising health and growth rates in heifer calves protects the future of the herd’s productivity.

In association with Zoetis