Calves & Heifers

I read mixing directions on a milk replacer tag recently, and it said “mix at 15% solids” which seems simple enough. But what does “15% solids” mean? Is it 15% by weight or 15% by volume?

Day in and day out, dairy farmers provide the best in animal husbandry. There are occasions when animals get sick and need antimicrobial therapy to overcome a specific disease challenge.

Currently, producers throughout the U.S. may be asked to either dump loads of milk or reduce production as dairy markets respond to decreased demand for dairy products caused by changes in the restaurant trade. This is a challenging proposition with few totally “right” answers.

A common goal of any dairy farmer is to grow healthy calves that can express their full genetic potential in the parlor. But, for all calves to become high-producing cows, they must have a successful transition from a milk-based diet to a grain and forage-based diet.

Scours – it’s an unwelcome but far too common problem on many dairies today. Thanks to education and development of new products, tremendous strides have been made in reducing the severity and number of calves lost due to the main causes of calf scours.

Conventional wisdom has told us we should house dairy calves individually to prevent nose-to-nose contact and control spread of disease. Calf hutches have been viewed as the “gold standard” for calf rearing.