Look back and learn from calving season

Most have been able to get silage in the pit over the last week, around the country.

Most have been able to get silage in the pit over the last week, around the country.

Unfortunately, all of the recently ensiled grass will be lower in quality than was planned for.

As a result, this silage may require a little more supplementation during next winter.

Having the first cut in the pit or bale is for most the biggest job in preparation for next winter’s housing period, and it is a great relief to have it done.

Calving finished

Most spring sucklers are calved.

Breeding is well under way, and almost finished on some farms.

Now is the time to look back at how calving went, and to make plans for next year.

Don’t wait too long to review calving events, time will reduce your response to any problems that may have occurred.

Immediately after the event is the best time to make a few notes on what might need changing for next year.

Listing your losses and sick animals is a good start.

Your cattle are in a recording system that will provide that information.

Your calving notebook should have the dead calves checked off, and a brief note on what happened to each.

Identifying patterns

Were most of the losses at calving?

What group of cows had most problems?

Could sire selection be an issue, with more attention needing to be paid to easy calving sires for heifers.

Perhaps if first calvers were a problem, maybe more attention needs to be paid to heifer rearing and growing.

This could contribute to more calving difficulties than necessary.

Calf scour

Did losses increase after the calves had reached 10 days to two weeks of age?

This often means that calf scour is a major cause of deaths. Calf scours may be more likely to occur in calves of first calved heifers.

Calves that receive inadequate amounts of colostrum within the first six hours of life are five to six times more likely to die from calf scours.

Calves that are born to thin heifers are weakened at birth, and receive poorer quality colostrum, which compounds their likelihood of scours.

Often, these same calves were born via a difficult delivery, which adds to their chances of getting sick and dying.

All of this means that we need to reassess the breeding heifer growing programme, to ensure that heifers are grown properly before calving, and are at a body condition score of 3.0 for calving.

Calving facilities

Do you use the same calving boxes each year for calving?

There may be a build-up of bacteria or viruses that contribute to calf scour in these boxes. Ideally, calving boxes should be cleaned out and disinfected after each calving.

However, on a busy farm in the spring, during the calving season, this is a virtual impossibility.

Now that all stock are outdoors, you should, where possible, steam clean and disinfect calving boxes before next season. Having a number of calving boxes will allow each one to be cleaned out while the others are being used. For some, access to calving boxes for cleaning can be an issue.

If this is the case, modification of existing facilities, or constructing a new facility which can be cleaned out with a loader, would be ideal.

A well-constructed calving gate is a must on any suckler or dairy farm If you don’t have one, look into it, as it provides great safety for both man and beast.

It is always a good idea to get new calves and their mothers out of the calving boxes as soon as they can be moved comfortably.

While indoors, calves under cows should be penned where possible with similar aged calves.

Using historical records

Based on the information gathered from recent calving events, you now have a starting point for next year.

What calves were lost and what were the causes?

  • Calving difficulties? (Identify bull/bulls. Cow condition? Heifers grown sufficiently?)
  • Scour: was the type of scour diagnosed? (Did you vaccinate?)
  • Respiratory issues?
  • Would not suckle?
  • Did they get adequate colostrum?

Were cows in the correct condition calving down?

  • Feed quality? (Was a balanced diet fed?)
  • Was housing overcrowded?
  • Did they get sufficient quality and quantity of pre-calver minerals?

What disease control measures are in place on the farm?

  • What are you vaccinating for? (BVD, IBR, RSV and PI3, Lepto, Salmonella, scours, etc).

After collecting such information, you need to establish what may have caused issues to occur on your farm.

Chat to your vet, who will have been involved in trying to deal with the issues.

Discuss with him or her the possibility of blood testing a cross-section of cows for disease, and for mineral/vitamin profiles.

Look at getting your silage tested to establish a mineral profile of your farm, to cross reference with any bloods you might do.

Footnote

In my experience, over the years, improving nutrition on a farm can significantly reduce metabolic disorders and immune response issues.

Providing a better plane of nutrition helps animals to function better and to fight off disease, because their immune system is stronger.

This strategy should obviously be adopted in conjunction with good breeding decisions, a health plan and appropriate facilities.

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Karen Walsh

Karen Walsh

Law of the Land

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