The spring-calving season will soon be upon us, so now is a good time to assess your calf-feeding equipment and determine what needs to be replaced.
It is important to complete this job ahead of the new year and the arrival of calves onto the farm.
The calving season is a busy period on farms, so as much as possible should be done beforehand to ensure that it goes as smoothly as possible.
Calf feeding equipment
For the first numbers of weeks of life, a calf will obtain the majority of the nutrients it needs from milk.
For this reason, the equipment used to feed calves the milk plays a vital role on farms during the springtime.
Ideally, you will have a teat feeder for each pen of calves so the risk of disease being passed between the pens is reduced.
All of these feeders need to clean and the teats should be replaced before calves begin to arrive; you should not wait until calving has already started.
If more feeders are needed, they should be ordered before everyone else is looking for them as then there might be a delay.
The teats on all the feeders should be replaced and a number of spares should also be obtained. The teats should also be replaced on automatic calf feeders.
Teats that were used last year should not be used again this year as they may be a source of harmful bacteria.
Farmers that are using automatic feeders should also be changing the teats and ensuring that there are spares on the farm.
Troughs
Along with having milk feeders it is important to ensure that all troughs used for feeding concentrates are ready to go.
Ensure that none of them are damaged and that once again, you have enough present on the farm for the number of calves you have.
You should also ensure that you have something that can be used for feeding hay or straw to calves.
The feeding of concentrates along with a roughage such as hay or straw all aids in the development of the calves rumen.