Calf Management 1
TOCSKILLSJim Quigley’sCalf Notes
Sam Leadley’sCalf Facts
CalvingEase
Feeding theNewborn Calf
Table of Contents
Basic Calf Care Skill Inventory
Calf Raiser Skill Inventory
Basic Calf Care Skills1 Identify a navel dip solution
2 Determine the gender of a calf
3 Soak a navel with dip
4 Evaluate navel condition at 24 hours
5 Restrain a newborn calf for feeding or tagging
6 Insert an identification tag in calf ’s ear
7 Feed a calf with a bottle
8 Feed a calf with an esophageal feeder
9 Give an intramuscular or subcutaneous injection
10 Give intranasal vaccine
11 Prepare stored colostrum for feeding a newborn calf
12 Mix milk replacer
13 Measure temperature of liquids fed to calves
14 Cleaning mixing and feeding equipment
15 Feed milk or milk replacer
16 Observe for scours
17 Measure body temperature of a calf
18 Observe for pneumonia
... continued
Calf Management Skills 2
Calf Raiser Skills1 Determine colostrum quality
2 Preserve colostrum for later feeding
3 Use colostrum supplements properly
4a Select and monitor milk replacer mixing procedures
4b Decide how much milk replacer to feed
4c Select and monitor wash-up temperatures, chemicals andprocedures for milk feeding equipment
5 Diagnose scours
6 Treat scours
7 Diagnose respiratory illness
8 Treat respiratory illness
9 Diagnose navel infections
10 Treat navel infections
11 Feed water
12 Manage water buckets
13 Feed starter grain
14 Manage grain buckets
15 Store vaccines
16 Prepare vaccines
17 Give vaccines
18 Insert plastic ear tags
19 Maintain calf record system
20 Dock tails
21 Dehorn
Sam Leadley’s Calf Management Facts
Calving Ease Newsletter
Jim Quigley’s Calf Notes
Penn State University’s ‘Feeding the Newborn Dairy Calf ’
Calf Management 3
TOCJim Quigley’sCalf Notes
Sam Leadley’sCalf Facts
CalvingEase
Feeding theNewborn Calf
Basic Calf Care Skill Inventory
Identify a navel dipsolution
Evaluate navelcondition at 24 hours
Feed a calf with abottle.
Give intranasalvaccine
Measure temperatureof liquids fed to calves
Observe for scours
Determine the genderof a calf
Restrain a newborncalf for feeding or tagging
Feed a calf with anesophageal feeder
Prepare storedcolostrum for feeding toa newborn calf
Clean mixing andfeeding equipment
Measure bodytemperature of a calf
Soak a navel with dip
Insert an identificationtag in a calf’s ear
Give an intramuscularinjection
Mix milk replacer
Feed milk or milkreplacer
Observe forrespiratory illness
1 2 3
18
6
9
12
15
7
10
13
16
4
8
11
14
17
5
Calf Management 4
TOCJim Quigley’sCalf Notes
Sam Leadley’sCalf Facts
CalvingEase
Feeding theNewborn Calf
Calf Raiser Skill Inventory
Determine colostrumquality
1
Maintain calf recordsystem
19
Select and monitormilk replacer mixingprocedures
4a
Diagnose respiratoryillness
7
Treat navel infections10
Feed starter grain13
Prepare vaccines16
Preserve colostrum forlater feedings
2
Dock tails20
Treat respiratoryillness
8
Feed water11
Manage grain buckets14
Administer vaccines17
Use colostrumsupplements properly
3
Dehorn21
Diagnose scours5
Diagnose navelinfections
9
Manage waterbuckets
12
Store vaccines15
Insert plastic ear tags18
Decide how muchmilk replacer to feed
4b Select and monitormilk feeding equipmentwash-up procedures
4c
Treat scours6
Calf Management 5
TOCSKILLSJim Quigley’sCalf Notes
Sam Leadley’sCalf Facts
CalvingEase
Feeding theNewborn Calf
Basic Calf Care Skill 1: Identify a navel dip solution
For good calf health we must keep bacteria from entering theumbilical cord on a newborn calf. We dip the cord and theentire navel area. For dipping to work properly this dip should
be a 7 percent iodine alcohol solution(tincture of iodine). Other common on-farmiodine solutions are not effective for keepingbacteria out of the umbilical cord of anewborn calf.
For more information, see:• QCN14: Navel Disinfection
Go To Skill Sheet
The navel and umbilical cord stump of everynewborn calf should be dipped in a 7% solutionof iodine in alcohol - known as tincture of iodine.
Calf Management 6
TOCSKILLSJim Quigley’sCalf Notes
Sam Leadley’sCalf Facts
CalvingEase
Feeding theNewborn Calf
Basic Calf Care Skill 2: Determine the gender of a calf
On most dairy farms female (heifer) calves are raised. Male(bull) calves are sold. In order to properly separate calves thecaretaker must be able to identify calf gender.
Go To Skill Sheet
Click here to see a video clipdemonstrating this skill
Calf Management 7
TOCSKILLSJim Quigley’sCalf Notes
Sam Leadley’sCalf Facts
CalvingEase
Feeding theNewborn Calf
Basic Calf Care Skill 3: Soak a navel with dip
Rinsing and soaking the umbilical cord and navel area of anewborn calf is essential for preserving good health. Rinsingthe cord washes away dirt and pathogens. Soaking the cordand navel area exposes them to both iodine (kills pathogens)and alcohol (dries up cord).
For more information, see:• LCF26: Newborn Health Starts At Calving• LCF32: Dipping Navels / Desinfeccion Umbilical• LCF67: Disinfecting Navels and Calf Mortality• QCN14: Navel disinfection• CE15: Newborn Navel Care
Go To Skill Sheet
Click here to see a video clipdemonstrating this skill
Calf Management 8
TOCSKILLSJim Quigley’sCalf Notes
Sam Leadley’sCalf Facts
CalvingEase
Feeding theNewborn Calf
Basic Calf Care Skill 4: Evaluate navel condition at 24 hours
If the navel dipping is effective the umbilical cord will shrivelup promptly. This closes it off as a route for pathogens to enterthe body. If for any reason the umbilical cord has not lost itswet appearance and is still soft to the touch it needs to becoated with tincture of iodine again at 24 to 36 hours.
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Click here to see a video clipdemonstrating this skill
Calf Management 9
TOCSKILLSJim Quigley’sCalf Notes
Sam Leadley’sCalf Facts
CalvingEase
Feeding theNewborn Calf
Basic Calf Care Skill 5: Restrain a newborn calf for feeding or tagging
Correct restraint decreases the chances of injury for both thecalf and the caretaker. Also, they both experience less stress.Both feeding and tagging may be done properly when the calfis carefully restrained.
For more information, see:• CE39: Calf care and husbandry
Go To Skill Sheet
Click here to see a video clipdemonstrating this skill
Calf Management 10
TOCSKILLSJim Quigley’sCalf Notes
Sam Leadley’sCalf Facts
CalvingEase
Feeding theNewborn Calf
Basic Calf Care Skill 6: Insert an identification tag in calf ’s ear
Effective calf management depends on correct identificationof each calf. Feeding calves often varies depending on ageand size of calf. Disease diagnosis and treatment depends onaccurate calf identification. Proper placement of a metal eartag is an important step in maintaining a calf’s identity.
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Click here to see a video clipdemonstrating this skill
Calf Management 11
TOCSKILLSJim Quigley’sCalf Notes
Sam Leadley’sCalf Facts
CalvingEase
Feeding theNewborn Calf
Basic Calf Care Skill 7: Feed a calf with a bottle
Nearly all calves are fed either colostrum, milk or milk replacerat least once with a nursing bottle. Knowledge of what isnormal and abnormal suckling behavior for calves is essentialfor preserving good calf health. Learning what to observewhen bottle feeding is an important part of good animalhusbandry.
For more information, see:• LCF01: How Much to Feed a 100# Calf• LCF08: Calves That Just Don’t Suck• LCF11: Clean, Wholesome Colostrum• LCF17: Feeding Preweaned Calves: Colostrum• LCF18: Feeding Preweaned Calves: Milk Replacer• QCN01: Colostrum Feeding - To nurse or not to nurse• QCN02: Colostrum Feeding - How much colostrum to feed?• QCN03: Colostrum Feeding - A primer on colostrum Ig• QCN06: Methods of feeding liquid to calves• QCN11: Timing of colostrum feeding• QCN28: Can I feed calves once a day?• QCN38: The 18 pound rule of colostrum feeding• QCN52: Colostrum protein as a source of nutrition for the
newborn calf• QCN57: The need to feed colostrum• QCN74: Colostrum & growth of calves• CE40: Bottle feeding
Go To Skill Sheet
Click here to see a video clipdemonstrating this skill
Calf Management 47
TOCSKILLSJim Quigley’sCalf Notes
Sam Leadley’sCalf Facts
CalvingEase
Feeding theNewborn Calf
Sam Leadley’s Calf Management Facts
01 How Much to Feed a 100# Calf
02 8 Reasons Why Antibiotics Fail
03 8 Reasons Why Vaccines Fail
04 Blueprint for 4-6 Month Old Heifers
05 Transitioning Calves After Weaning
06 Calf Blankets
07 Calves and Water
08 Calves that Just Don’t Suck
09 Cleaning Versus Bacterial Control
10 Collecting Clean Colostrum
11 Clean, Wholesome Colostrum
12 Colostrum Management Checklist
13 Why Feed Colostrum?
14 Colostrum Supplements
15 Test Your Own Starter Grain Quality
16 Production Profit Starts with Colostrum Management
17 Feeding Preweaned Calves: Colostrum
... continued
Calf Management Skills 48
Sam Leadley’s Calf Management Facts - continued
18 Feeding Preweaned Calves: Milk Replacer
19 Feeding Preweaned Calves: Starter Grain
20 Feeding Preweaned Calves: Water
21 Filling Buckets or Feeding Water?
22 Good Growth in Cold Weather
23 Good Growth in Cold Weather 2
24 Grazing for Heifers: A Possibility?
25 Grazing for Heifers, Making It Work
26 Newborn Health Starts at Calving
27 Healthy Calves: Doing a Few Things Very Well
28 Is Your Wash Water Hot Enough? Cold Weather Tips
29 Hot Weather and Post-Weaning Slump
30 Monitoring Calf Care: What To Do When Goals Are Not Met
31 More is Better: Ways To Get More Energy into Calves in Cold Weather
32 Dipping Navels
33 Newborn Calf Care
34 Newborn Calf Care 2
35 Scours from a Parasite
36 Storing Colostrum
37 Starter Grain Intake and Milk Feeding
38 Successful Passive Transfer
... continued
Calf Management Skills 49
Sam Leadley’s Calf Management Facts - continued
39 Transition Calf Feeding: Management Checklist
40 Transition Calf Housing Checklist
41 Using CMT to Check Colostrum Quality
42 Vaccinating Calves in Hot Weather
43 Washing Milk Containers Checklist
44 Washing Milk Containers / Lavando los Recipientes de la Leche
45 Water: An Essential Element For Growth
46 Calf Weaning Checklist
47 Weaning Calves: Four Management Strategies
48 Basics for Feeding More than One Pound of Milk Replacer a Day
49 Milk Feeding in an Intensive Feeding Program
50 Grain Feeding in an Intensive Feeding Program
51 Estimated Gains Feeding 20-20 Milk Replacer
52 Coliform Bacteria Growth Demonstration
53 Comparison Of Conventional and Intensive Calf Feeding Programs
54 HAACP Application: Managing Calf Diseases
55 Increasing Resistance to Pathogens
56 Intensive Preweaned Calf Feeding Program
57 Keeping Colostrum Clean
58 Monitoring Calf Care
59 Newborn Calf Care
... continued
Calf Management Skills 50
Sam Leadley’s Calf Management Facts - continued
60 Preventing, Diagnosing and Treating Calfhood Diseases
61 Preweaned Calf Health Checklist
62 Reducing Exposure to Pathogens
63 Estimated Gains Feeding 100 Pound Calves
64 Tube Feeding Colostrum
65 Colostrum Composition
66 Relationship between Refractometer Readings and Plasma IgG Levels
67 Disinfecting Navels and Calf Mortality
68 Consequences of Feeding Free-Choice Water to Pre-Weaned ReplacementHeifer Calves
69 Prevent Pneumonia in Young Calves
Calf Management 50
TOCSKILLSJim Quigley’sCalf Notes
Sam Leadley’sCalf Facts
CalvingEase
Feeding theNewborn Calf
Calving Ease Newsletter
01 Cold weather and newborn calves
02 Measuring and mixing milk replacer
03 Decontaminating feeding equipment
04 Heifer colostrum an overlooked resource
05 Mama’s white bread recipe
06 Water a vital element for calf growth
07 Beginning to eat starter grain
08 Aim for fewer pathogens at calving
09 Scours in two-week old calves
10 Quality of starter grain
11 Feed bunk space for heifers
12 Vaccination does not equal immunization
13 Cold weather and energy for calves
14 Biosecurity when the veterinarian works with calves
15 Newborn navel care
16 Accelerated growth: An elusive goal
17 Mastitis and flies
18 Coccidiosis and the three-week old calf
19 Using Electrolytes
20 Wholesome colostrum
21 Habits: good and bad
22 Maternal immune cells in colostrum
... continued
Calf Management Skills 51
Calving Ease Newsletter - continued
23 Good colostrum management
24 Improving heifer handling (Part 1)
25 Improving heifer handling (Part 2)
26 The right water temperature
27 Colostrum - the four quart myth (Part 1 of 2)
28 Colostrum - the four quart myth (Part 2 of 2)
29 Value of colostrum feeding - fact and speculation
30 Are we achieving our goals? (Part 1: Measuring and Recording)
31 Are we achieving our goals? (Part 2: Summarizing and Analyzing)
32 Heat stress and calves
33 Abomasal ulcers
34 Scours: Make a list and check it twice
35 Coccidiosis and young calves
36 Coccidiostats and Murphy’s Law
37 Scours are NOT normal
38 Pooling colostrum
39 Calf care and husbandry
40 Bottle feeding
41 The 'only' way to feed calves
42 Little slipups add up
Calf Management 52
TOCSKILLSJim Quigley’sCalf Notes
Sam Leadley’sCalf Facts
CalvingEase
Feeding theNewborn Calf
Jim Quigley’s Calf Notes
01 Colostrum feeding - to nurse or not to nurse
02 Colostrum feeding - How much colostrum to feed?
03 Colostrum feeding - A primer on colostrum Ig
04 Water, water, everywhere...
05 Bacteria in the rumen
06 Methods of feeding liquid to calves
07 Computer or mob feeders for calves
08 Can I use waste milk for my calves?
09 When is a calf ready to wean?
10 Calf starter quality
11 Timing of colostrum feeding
12 Cryptosporidium and Cryptosporidosis
13 Freezing and thawing colostrum
14 Navel disinfection
15 Ig absorption and respiratory acidosis
16 Stress at weaning
17 Coccidiosis - A technical review
18 Using colostral supplements
19 Does hay develop the rumen?
20 Ingredients for rumen development
21 Feeding scouring calves
22 Using the colostrometer to measure colostrum quality
... continued
Calf Management Skills 53
Jim Quigley’s Calf Notes - continued
23 Soy proteins in milk replacers
24 The needle vs. the shovel
25 Reducing fly populations in calf hutches
26 What is the Bovine Alliance on Management & Nutrition?
27 How calf starter intake drives rumen development
28 Can I feed calves once a day?
29 Supplemental fat in liquid diets
30 Basics of calf housing
31 Microbial protein synthesis in the rumen
32 Coccidiostats in calf starters
33 Measures of milk replacer quality
34 Intestinal mucins
35 Risks of using waste milk
36 Vitamin E in colostrum
37 New trends in milk replacer management
38 The 18 pound rule of colostrum feeding
39 Using the refractometer
40 Cost of milk vs. milk replacer
41 Antibiotics in milk replacers
42 What are scours?
43 Electrolytes for scouring calves
44 Fat levels in milk replacers
45 Vitamin A in milk replacer
46 Delays in colostrum feeding - effects on bacterial load
47 Palatability of calf starters
48 Rumen motility
49 Red blood cell protein in calf milk replacers
... continued
Calf Management Skills 54
Jim Quigley’s Calf Notes - continued
50 Colostral leukocytes
51 Colostrum from Johnes positive cows
52 Colostrum protein as a source of nutrition for the newborn calf
53 Milk replacer ingredients and labels
54 Insulin in colostrum
55 Blood BHBA in calves
56 Benefits of calf hutches for housing young dairy calves
57 The need to feed colostrum
58 Predicting calf starter intake in Holstein calves
59 Environmental effects on calf feeding - basic concepts
60 Transfer of immunoglobulins to the intestine
61 Effect of nutrient intake on growth in beef calves
62 Refractometers, FPT and age of calves
63 What is rumen abrasive value?
64 Does housing method influence calf behavior?
65 Dietary cation-anion balance in dairy calves
66 Chemical treatment of colostrum
67 An update on colostral IgG
68 Predicting water intake in young calves
69 Nutrient Requirements of Dairy Cattle
70 Glutamine and soy proteins in milk replacers
71 NRC energy requirements for calves fed milk or milk replacer
72 NRC energy requirements for calves fed milk or milk replacer plus starter
73 Colostrum & Antibiotic residue testing
74 Colostrum & growth of calves
75 Egg protein in calf milk replacers
76 Ig and biological safety
77 Methods of feeding water... continued
Calf Management Skills 55
Jim Quigley’s Calf Notes - continued
78 Prestarters and rumen development
79 A story about Pepe
80 Clostridium in calves
81 Colostrum supplements vs. colostrum replacers
82 Housing and behavior revisited
83 Using the esophageal feeder to administer colostrum
84 Accelerated feeding #1 - current feeding programs
85 Accelerated feeding #2 - limitations of current programs
86 Egg in milk replacers - an update
87 Calf feeding programs and control of brucellosis and tuberculosis
88 Feeding calves for health - Introduction
89 Evaluating the use of antibiotic alternatives
90 Iron binding antimicrobial proteins
91 Probiotics in calf feeding programs
92 Antibodies & passive transfer - Introduction
93 NAHMS Dairy 2002 study
Calf Management 56
TOCSKILLSJim Quigley’sCalf Notes
Sam Leadley’sCalf Facts
CalvingEase
Feeding theNewborn Calf
Penn State University’s Feeding the Newborn Dairy Calf
The Digestive System
Anatomy
Preruminant Digestion
Rumen Development
Colostrum
Quality
Quantity
Timing
Storage and Handling
Feeding Method
Evaluating Colostrum Management
Nutrient Requirements
Liquid Feeds
Milk Replacers
Whole Milk
Waste Milk
Fresh Colostrum
Fermented Colostrum
Feeding Amount
Weak or Sick Calves
Esophageal Feeder
Electrolyte Supplement
Dry Feed and Weaning