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Tag Archives Dairy Corner

Newborn dairy calves need proper clean and dry shelters and proper feed to get them off to the best start.
Cattleman’s Corner, Dairy Cattle, The Dairy Corner

Dairy calves need proper feed and winter housing

Whether in a straw house or plastic hutch, keep them clean, keep them fed

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Whenever I see dairy calves raised outside in the winter, it often reminds me of a producer I met several years ago. At the time, he told me that years before, he raised pre-weaned dairy calves in the most dismal ways. He used to house about 15 outside in several lean-tos, which were a sheet […] Read more
Electrolyte products can help calves get through stress periods by maintaining fluid balance, stimulating appetite, and maintaining immune function.
Cattleman’s Corner, Livestock, The Dairy Corner

Replenish vital fluid loss in dairy calves

Dairy Corner: Not only disease, but even heat stress can quickly take its toll

By
It might be a scouring sick dairy calf or an otherwise healthy one suffering from stress, but death can be minutes away if either calf loses more than 10 per cent of its bodyweight in fluids (water and electrolytes). Fortunately, we can save many of these dairy calves by recognizing the symptoms of dehydration and […] Read more
Cows leaving the dairy
Cattleman’s Corner, Dairy Cattle

Dirty conditions can lead to uterine infections

Barn cleanliness as well as nutrition can be among the contributors

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Many dairy cows come down with a uterine infection after calving. Some are slight but some are more serious. While there are host of factors which cause them, some reasons such as a dirty calving area are obvious, other reasons such as persistent metabolic problems are not so clear. Fortunately, a good spring-cleaning and improvements […] Read more
Dairy Corner: Vitamin A expensive, but necessary
Cattleman’s Corner, Dairy Cattle, The Dairy Corner

Dairy Corner: Vitamin A expensive, but necessary

Although the price has shot up, it is important to keep the nutrient in dairy rations

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Prices of vitamin A (along with vitamins D and E) have increased to 10 times their former costs from just a few months ago. This skyrocketing price is due to a recent fire at a new manufacturing facility in Germany as well as several vitamin ADE plants that are down for maintenance in China. Together, these events have caused a worldwide shortage […] Read more
dairy cattle eating hay
Dairy Cattle, Livestock, The Dairy Corner

Know your lactating dairy diet costs

Look to find a balance between very expensive and very cheap rations

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Occasionally, I talk to dairy producers about the financial aspects of operating a barn, aside from dairy nutrition. All producers wish to reduce their lactating feed costs. One producer I know wants to switch to a notorious cheap protein supplement, while another wants to hire a private dairy consultant and tender out all dairy feed […] Read more
Avoid giving your baby calves gut aches
Dairy Cattle, Livestock, The Dairy Corner

Avoid giving your baby calves gut aches

It takes time for a calf stomach to develop to handle certain feeds

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I visit literarily hundreds of dairy farms across Canada each year. On most, pre-weaned dairy calves are raised away from the main lactation barn or older replacement heifer facilities. Whether these baby calves are housed in hutches, group pens or brand-new calf barns, when I find a group of calves that are sick and not […] Read more
This is an actual picture of hairy heel warts taken by a dairy producer.
Cattleman’s Corner, Dairy Cattle

Controlling hairy heel warts in dairy cattle

A clean barn is part of preventative measures

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Since the new year, I have travelled to many dairy farms across Western Canada and conducted a personal survey about lameness in dairy cattle. At each visit, I asked producers “What was their biggest cause of hoof problems?” Almost unanimously, their answer was “hairy heel warts!” This is no surprise, since multiple surveys conducted over […] Read more
Cattleman’s Corner, Dairy Cattle, The Dairy Corner

Dairy Corner: How to optimize dry matter intake

Assess what’s happening at the feed bunk, supply proper ration

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There is only one way I know to supply the essential nutrients to high-producing cows to yield large volumes of milk, milk-fat, milk-protein and solids — assure dairy cows optimize dry matter intake of good feed is at its best. As a dairy nutritionist, I am so convinced each bite of lactation diet counts that […] Read more
More whole milk is needed to meet the basic water requirement of pre-weaned calves.
Dairy Cattle, The Dairy Corner

Pre-weaned calves need extra water

Dairy Corner: Satisfying thirst also promotes good dry calf starter intake

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Feeding milk replacer or whole milk does not provide enough water for growing pre-weaned dairy calves. Young calves have a natural requirement for water which is often higher and separate than what is provided by most milk-based feeding programs. By providing all the water needed, calves adapt to dry calf starter quicker, grow faster and […] Read more

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