Forage Inevitability in Early Dairy Calf Raising: Nature Manages

Reducing Dairy Calf Mortality

The loss of dairy calves from stillbirths and disease-related deaths places a significant challenge on the producer who wants farm-specific replacement heifers to maintain or expand herd size. Stillbirths are often overlooked as an important cause of calf mortality, as they are on some dairies. With improved record keeping, data analysis, diagnostic testing and herd monitoring, the appropriate ...

Cereal forage for dairy cattle

represents considerable thrips pressure. We present the data from yellow traps only to show that many thrips were present in the greenhouse throughout the trial. In the absence of predators, the number of thrips per plant increased consistently throughout the trial to reach 39.28 per plant in the final week (table 1). All treatments significantly reduced thrips numbers (P < 0.05) compared to th...

Feeding the Newborn Dairy Calf

Calf mortality in Norwegian dairy herds.

The aims of this study were to estimate mortality rates in Norwegian dairy calves and young stock up to 1 yr of age, identify risk factors for calf mortality, and evaluate the etiology of calf mortality based on postmortem analyses. The material comprised 3 data sets. The first data set included information on 289,038 offspring in 14,474 dairy herds registered in the Norwegian Dairy Herd Record...

Dairy Worker Training in Newborn Calf Management

Dairy calf death rates from birth to weaning approximate 8 to 10% in the US. Stillbirths on dairies, measured as calves dead at delivery or within the first 24 to 48 hours after delivery, are less closely monitored, but are estimated between 6 and 12%. Numerous factors influence calf health and survival, but the key contributors to calf morbidity and mortality can be managed to greatly reduce t...