1 / 49

2011 Calf-ETERIA Study

2011 Calf-ETERIA Study. Benchmarking Ontario dairy calf raising practices & Opportunities for Improvement. Vivianne Bielmann Purina ROF Meeting March 22, 2012. Presentation Outline . What is Calf-ETERIA? About the project Calf and Heifer Management Survey Results

natan
Download Presentation

2011 Calf-ETERIA Study

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. 2011 Calf-ETERIA Study Benchmarking Ontario dairy calf raising practices & Opportunities for Improvement Vivianne BielmannPurina ROF Meeting March 22, 2012

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

  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 • Mark Carson • 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 • Questions about calf and heifer management • From time of calving up until breeding age • Fairly long – 87 questions • 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

  11. Distribution of Herd Size

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

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

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

  15. Where are Calves normally Born?

  16. 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

  17. Separation of Calf from Dam

  18. 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

  19. 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%

  20. 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

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

  22. 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

  23. Colostrum Feeding

  24. Amount of Colostrum Fed

  25. 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

  26. 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)

  27. Milk Feeding

  28. 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)

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

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

  31. 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)

  32. 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

  33. 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

  34. 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

  35. 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)

  36. Health Problems – Pre-weaning • 438 of 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

  37. Weaning Method

  38. Weaning • How is the time of weaning decided? • Calf age  812 • Calf weight  293 • Starter/grain intake  454 *often this is a combination*

  39. Weaning Age

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

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

  42. Rations for Heifers • What type of ration are heifers fed? • Components  52% (455/868) • Top-dressed  22% (190/868) • TMR 26% (223/868)

  43. Age at First Breeding

  44. Cost of Raising a Heifer • How much does it cost?

  45. Project Status • Management clubs • 4 locations – Tavistock, Listowel, Elmira and Kemptville • ~35-45 producers participating • Will be completed March 31st • Online modules • On-going • ~30 producers participating

  46. Next Steps • Finish analyzing survey results • Follow-up with participants in the summer • Continue collecting data • DHI records • Follow-up

  47. Thank You www.calf-eteria.com

More Related