Calves have arrived on the majority of Irish dairy farms, with the spring-calving season well underway.
The early part of the rearing/calving season is a busy period on farms, but however busy farmers are, hygiene standards still need to be maintained.
Calf-feeding equipment has the potential to be a source of infection/illness for young calves.
The feeding of colostrum to calves does offer them some protection, but it will not prevent them from becoming sick when the bacterial load is high.
Spring calving
Calves on the majority of dairy farms will be reared using teat feeders, although there appears to be an increase in the amount of dairy farmers using automatic feeders.
Teat or bar feeders are an effective way of rearing calves as a number of calves can be fed at the one time – but they can also be a portal for disease.
Teat feeders should not be moved between pens; if they are being moved between pens, they need to be cleaned between each use.
An illness that starts in one pen can easily move to another due to the teat feeder being used.
These feeders need to be cleaned after each use and stored out of reach of the calves or any other animals that may come into contact with them.
Teats should be changed regularly, as they have the potential to harbour bacteria which is then consumed by the calf when feeding.
Automatic feeders
Automatic or computerised feeders have a number of benefits from a labour-saving point of view, but they may also be a source of sickness for calves if not managed correctly.
Many of these machines have their own wash cycle, which means that the only requirement for the farmers is to ensure that it has milk powder, a water supply and detergent.
But the actual teat on the machine is not cleaned during these cleaning cycles, making them, as with teats on teat feeders, a potential source of sickness in calves.
All replacement heifers are drinking from one or two teats depending on the number of stations available.
These teats need to be cleaned on a regular basis to prevent them from being a source of illness for calves.
You should have a few spare teats and swap them for the teats on the machine – these should then be cleaned before being put back on.
They could be cleaned in products such as milton to reduce the potential for them to spread sickness.