2011 Calf-ETERIA Study

1. 2011 Calf-ETERIA Study Benchmarking Ontario dairy calf raising practices & Opportunities for Improvement Central Ontario Agriculture Conference 2012 Georgian College, Barrie

2. Presentation Outline • What is Calf-ETERIA? • About the project • Calf and Heifer Management Survey • Results • Opportunities for improvement • Next Steps

3. Calf-ETERIA • Using CALF health and productivity as a template for an Evaluation of Translation and Extension of Research Information for Agriculture

4. What is Calf-ETERIA ? • A University of Guelph-OMAFRA Knowledge Translation and Transfer funded project. • Team Members: • Ken Leslie – Project Coordinator • Tom Wright – Project Co-Coordinator • Vivianne Bielmann – Project Manager • Trevor DeVries • Mario Mongeon • Brian Lang • Bill Grexton • Harold House • Betty Summerhayes • Ian Rumbles

5. Project Objectives • Benchmark current dairy calf and heifer management practices • Develop approaches to undertaking KTT initiatives to improve awarenessand encourage adoption of, known optimal management techniques to increase economic performance and health • Evaluate and quantify both the animal health and economic performance subsequent to their initial benchmark • Disseminate case-study based benefits of optimal management systems to demonstrate both financial and animal health improvements to all Ontario dairy producers through producer meetings and web-based media

6. 3 KTT Approaches • Calf and Heifer management clubs • Including interaction with veterinarians • Web-based KTT for BMP’s for calves & heifers • Control Group

7. Expected Benefits and Impacts Benefits Ontario dairy producers from two key perspectives: • Economically – through reduced costs attributed to death losses, animal morbidity and associated treatment costs and reduction in compromised lifetime milk production losses, as a result of health problems encountered as a calf • Improved welfare of dairy calves and heifers - through increased survival rates and improved health-status

8. Expected Benefits and Impacts • IMPACTS • To change and improve specific aspects about the management of calves and heifers on Ontario dairy farms

9. Ontario Calf and Heifer Management Survey • 3,145 surveys were mailed out to dairy producers on DHI • The survey was also available online • 921 surveys were completed and returned by mail • 43 surveys were completed online • 30% response

10. Status of Survey

12. Distribution of Herd Size

13. Calf Care **N=948** **51.6% male, 21.5% female, 26.9% both**

14. Time Spent on Calf Care **N=849**

15. Cost of Labour • Employee wages, for calf care, ranged from $5 /hour up to $25 /hour, depending on the farm

16. Where are Calves normally Born?

17. Video Surveillance Use • 75 / 930 producers indicated that video surveillance is currently used to monitor cows in the calving area • Herd sizes of these 75 ranged from 28 cows up to 550 cows

18. Separation of Calf from Dam

19. Separation Technique • Total Separation to Calf Housing  758 (81%) • Partial Separation using a tub or gate  98 (10%) • Other + Partial or Total separation  17 (2%) • Other  67 (7%) • Methods Used: • Moved to box stall/calf pens • Tied to corner of calving pen • Cow is removed from pen • Tied up alongside cows • Calf stays with cow for hours/until licked dry/up to 3 days

20. Calving Assistance • On average, how often was assistance required during a calving, in the past year? • Never  0.4% • Less than 10%  27% • 10 – 20%  41% • More than 20% of calvings  23.6% • Exact percentage  7.4% • Range: 1% - 98%

21. Disinfecting Navels • Is it routine practice to disinfect the navel of each newborn calf? • YES  38% • NO  62% http://www.progressivedairy.com/features/2007/0107/0107

22. Disinfecting Navels • Why do it? • Prevent infections – stop pathogens from going up the cord into the calf’s body • Navel infections can lead to other health problems • Some studies show decreased growth associated with navel infections • An easy, cost-effective method to help prevent disease

23. Products administered shortly after Birth **N=950 N.B. – Percentages do not add up to 100%

24. Selenium • 1980’s and 1990’s supplementing newborn calves with selenium and vitamin E injections was common practice • Still widely done in beef cow-calf operations, • Recent research from the University of Guelph showed calves supplemented with selenium and vitamin E injections were less likely to develop diarrhea from viral pathogens (i.e. rotavirus)

25. Colostrum Feeding • What percentage of calves nurse the dam? • 0%  429 • 1-10%  189 • 11-30%  83 • 31-50%  49 • 60-90%  30 • 91-100%  18

26. Colostrum Feeding

27. Amount of Colostrum Fed

28. Differences in Volume of Colostrum Fed • Weight 132 • Calf’s Health Status  215 • Sex of Calf  19 • Let calf drink ‘at will’  7 • Combination of 2 or more of the above  115

29. Colostrum Quality • How many producers are checking colostrum quality? • 281/931  30% • How are they checking it? • Colour and/or consistency  72% (265/370) • Volume  19% (70/370) • Colostrometer 6% (23/370) • Refractometer  0.2% (1/370) • Laboratory  3% (11/370)

30. Colostrum Quality • Importance of colostrum quality • Quality decreases quickly after calving. Collection should occur within 1 to 2 hours, max of 6 hrs. • The relationship between IgG concentrations and volume of colostrum is unpredictable

31. Milk Feeding

32. Milk Feeding • How are calves being fed? • Bucket  37% (332/890) • Milk Bar  3% (22/890) • Nurse Bottle  29% (262/890) • Robot Milk Feeder  3% (27/890) • Other Free-Access feeding system  1% (12/890) • Combination of 2 or more  26% (235/890)

33. Milk Feeding • How much is being fed daily in Week 1?

34. Milk Feeding • How much is being fed daily in Week 4?

35. Traditional milk feeding levels • Feeding programs based on feeding 500 g of milk (4L) or milk replacer DM day puts the calf at serious risk for limited or no growth during the first 2 - 3 weeks of life unless environmental conditions of temperature and moisture are optimal (Courtesy of Trevor DeVries)

36. Increased milk feeding levels for accelerated growth • Recommendation now is to feed calves more milk – increase rate of frame growth (not fattening per se) • Feed whole milk ad libitum (free access) or at other high levels (8-10+ L/day) • Feed more milk replacer • 1 to 1.5 kg of powder/day • 26-28% CP, 15-20% fat • Achieve gains of 1 to 1.5 kg/d of growth pre-weaning (Courtesy of Trevor DeVries)

37. Free Access Feeding of Milk to Calves 10 Calves will drink more milk when they are provided the opportunity 8 6 4 Milk consumed (kg/d) Conventional 2 Ad libitum 0 2 4 0 Jasper & Weary, 2002; J. Dairy Sci. 85: 3054-3058. Calf age (weeks) (Courtesy of Trevor DeVries)

38. Higher growth rates during the milk-feeding phase have long-term benefits! • Great weight at calving • increased weight gain during the first 2 mo of life results in significantly greater body weight at 24 mo of age (Moallem et al. 2010. J. Dairy Sci. 93:2639-2650) • Survivability • Heifers that reached second lactation grew more between 12 and 65 d of age than those that did not (Bach. 2011. J. Dairy Sci. 94:1052-1057) (Courtesy of Trevor DeVries)

39. Water • At what age is fresh water offered to calves? • 0 – 5 days  23% (215/920) • 5 – 10 days  29% (268/920) • More than 10 days  30% (280/920) • Not until after weaning  17% (157/920)

40. Importance of Water • Most essential nutrient, represents 70% of body weight • Water is lost from respiration and manure • Water intake is positively correlated with dry matter intake (Courtesy of Tom Wright)

41. Water Recommendations • Should be offered from 3 days of age • Helps to promote starter intake • Preferably free choice access • Needs to be clean • Calves prefer to drink warm water (though no evidence this improves gain etc., but they will drink more water if it’s warm) (Courtesy of Tom Wright)

42. Grain • At what age is grain/starter introduced to calves? • 0 – 5 days 32% (299/940) • 5 – 10 days  46% (430/940) • 11 – 20 days  17% (162/940) • More than 20 days of age  5% (49/940) • Do calves have free-choice access to grain/starter? • 87%  YES

43. Introduction of Hay • When are calves normally introduced to hay? • Less than 2 weeks of age  155 • 2 – 4 weeks of age  195 • 4 – 6 weeks of age  190 • After weaning  20

44. Recording Information • What information is recorded on individual calves? • Nothing  60 • ID info  911 • Calving ease info  796 • Stillbirth  806 • Routine procedures  262 • Calf disease events  371 • Calf health treatments  463 • Growth  62 • Death after 24 hours  602 • Weaning date  105

45. Standard Operating Procedures • Are SOP’s used for routine calf management procedures? • Yes, all procedures  18% (167/912) • Yes, only disease and treatment info  13% (123/912) • No  68% (622/912)

46. Health Problems – Pre-weaning • 438 producers ranked scours as a common (3 or 4 on a 1-4 point scale) • Respiratory disease was ranked as common by 216 producers • Navel ill, lameness and droopy ears are considered less common during this period

47. Weaning • How are calves weaned off milk? • Abruptly stop feeding  191 • Decrease volume  249 • Dilution of milk  311 • Intermittent feeding  98 • Combination of methods  93 • How is the time of weaning decided? • Calf age  812 • Calf weight  293 • Starter/grain intake  454 *often this is a combination*

48. Weaning Age • 5 weeks or less  2.4% (21/863) • 6 weeks  12% (101/863) • 7 weeks  9% (77/863) • 8 weeks  36% (311/863) • 9 weeks  10% (86/863) • 10 weeks or more  31% (267/863)

49. Health Problems – Post-weaning • 175 producers considered respiratory disease to be a common or very common health problem in post-weaned calves

50. Vaccination • Are calves vaccinated for respiratory disease? • 47 % are vaccinating calves against respiratory disease