In autumn calving herds, health issues such as abomasal bloat can increasingly become a problem.

Getting calves on the ground is the hard part, as farmers will spend a lot of money on heat detection, synchronisation programmes, getting cows fit for breeding and on sexed or conventional straws.

Once that cow calves, the focus is on making sure that calf is healthy and thriving.

Abomasal bloat can cause issues during the calving season. Clostridium bacteria or lactic acid generally produce the gas which cause this condition.

It is a sporadic disorder in young calves and can affect either the abomasum or the rumen, but bloat of abomasum is more common in the case of younger calves.

The way you feed your calves - whether they are being fed with a bottle and teat, bucket, or on an automatic feeder - does not have any effect on susceptibility to the disorder.

Abomasal bloat or acute bloat syndrome (ABS) occurs most commonly in calves aged from 4-21 days, and is caused mainly by poor hygiene, dirty bedding, and inaccurate feeding.

Freshly born calves are on a milk-only diet, as they are essentially monagastrics before their rumen starts to develop, and all colostrum, milk and milk replacer is digested through the abomasum.

This means that abomasal function is crucially important for young calves in early life, as they are reliant on energy and antibodies through their abomasum.

Always feed calves a minimum of 3L of quality colostrum within two hours of birth, and a further 3L within 12 hours. This is essential for calves to receive their antibodies.

Care is needed when stomach tubing, as incorrect use of a stomach tube can damage the vagal nerve, which is responsible for abomasal motility. Always ensure that you can feel the tube down the neck before feeding the milk.

Feeding equipment and teats need to be in good condition, and teats should be changed on the feeders regularly, especially when using an automatic calf feeder.

Feeding irregular milk volumes can cause issues, as large milk volume takes longer to empty from the abomasum, giving bacteria more time to ferment the milk, which can cause an excess of gas.

The health of a calf is based on consistency, as young stock thrive on consistent feed times and quantity. When mixing the milk, this should be no different and the total amount of solids in the milk needs to remain consistent.

Osmolality refers to the solid content of milk or milk replacer as it flows through the abomasum, and high levels of osmolality can cause an issue with young calves.

A good quality milk replacer can be mixed at either 12.5% - which is 125g milk powder/L of mixed milk - or 15% - which is 150g milk powder/L of mixed milk - with the aim of keeping the osmolality of the mixed milk at less than 500-600mOsm/L.

Anything that delays the flow of milk through the abomasum allows bacteria to multiply, which increases the risk of bloat.

If clostridium perfringens bacteria is present, harmful toxins will be produced that can then damage the calf's organs.

A calf's intake of water is crucial from day one of life, and plays a huge part in preventing bloat as low water intake will increase the osmolality of the milk being fed and slow the abomasal emptying rate.

To sustain osmolality, farmers need to always provide fresh, clean water from day one that is always accessible. If there are more than 20 calves in a pen, two water troughs should be accessible.

Once a calf develops this form of bloat, it is often too late, so, preventing bloat requires a high level of hygiene and consistency in the calf shed and feeding equipment.

It mainly requires consistency while feeding calves with the right amount of milk at the right temperature, well mixed, and at the same time twice a day.

If feeding with automatic feeders, make sure they are calibrated regularly and routinely check if calves are getting their feed on a regular basis.