Dairy Calves

Injuries in Dairy Calves - Prevention and Treatment

Injuries in Dairy Calves - Prevention and Treatment. By Heather Smith Thomas. Young calves occasionally suffer injuries, but some of these can be prevented with changes in management.  Jessica McArt, DVM, PhD, DABVP (Dairy Practice) is a veterinarian in the Ambulatory & Production Medicine Clinic at...

Tips for Winterizing your Calf Care

Tips for Winterizing your Calf Care. By Jaclyn Krymowski. Winter can be an especially stressful time for both the herd and farm employees. Perhaps the worst of this is felt when it comes to keeping the most vulnerable assets to your herd, youngstock, healthy during the frigid temperatures.Not only is the...

How to Prevent Scours in Dairy Calves

How to Prevent Scours in Dairy Calves. By Haley B. Reichenbach and Donna Amaral-Phillips, Ph.D. - UK College of Agriculture. The term “scours” refers to an all-encompassing word for diarrhea in many different species of animals. Scours is specifically cited as “a case of diarrhea that...

Acidosis in Dairy Calves

Acidosis in Dairy Calves. By Heather Smith Thomas.  Calves are born without a developed rumen.  In the first weeks of life they depend mainly on the abomasum, to digest milk.  The abomasum makes up 60% of a newborn calf’s stomach capacity but by the time the calf is three to four months old,...

Importance of Water for Dairy Calves

Importance of Water for Dairy Calves. By Heather Smith Thomas. Dairy calves need water as well as milk or milk replacer.  How and when it is supplied can make a difference in their health and growth.  Dr. Bob James, a dairy consultant and owner of Down Home Heifer Solutions, Blacksburg, VA (Former...

Tips on Giving Fluid to Scouring Calves

Tips on Giving Fluid to Scouring Calves. By Heather Smith Thomas. Neonatal diarrhea, or “calf scours”, is frequently seen in young calves, and dehydration is the most common cause of death in scouring calves.  The major causes of scours are viruses, bacteria, or protozoa, and these can also...

Abomasal Bloat in Calves

Abomasal Bloat in Calves. By Heather Smith Thomas. Abomasal bloat is often blamed on ulcers, but these conditions are generally two very different problems, according to Dr. Geof Smith (former professor at North Carolina State University and now Dairy Technical Services Veterinarian at Zoetis Inc. at Raleigh...

Pair Housing and Group Housing for Dairy Calves

Pair Housing and Group Housing for Dairy Calves. By Heather Smith Thomas.Young dairy calves have traditionally been housed in single-calf hutches, because this has been believed to be healthier than having contact with other calves.  Recent research and behavioral studies are showing that there are benefits...

Dairy Calves Need Good Care and Management During Winter

Dairy Calves Need Good Care and Management During Winter. By Heather Smith Thomas. Winter in some regions is not severe and management of dairy calves may not need to be much different than in other seasons.  In many areas of the U.S. however, winter is colder, wetter and more stressful for calves, so...

Accommodating Management Strategy for Auto Calf Feeder Success

Accommodating Management Strategy for Auto Calf Feeder Success. By Jaclyn Krymowski. Automatic calf feeders are incredible labor savers, but they come with additional challenges beyond the financial cost. Asides from cutting back hours of manual labor, auto systems mimic some of the more “natural...

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