1. Feeding the calf up till weaning Is it time for a re-think?
Dai Grove-White

3. Targets for dairy calf rearing.
Mortality less than 5 %.
Good growth:
Weaning weight > 65 Kg (80 Kg ?)
Weighs at least >120 Kg at 3 months.
For -14 months
Weight > 380 Kg
Withers height > 125 cm
Calves down at 24 months.
What about subsequent health and production ??

4. massive area of financial loss

6. Metabolic programming
“Early adaptations to a nutritional stress or stimulus permanently change the physiology and metabolism of the organism and continue to be expressed even in the absence of the stimulus/stress that initiated them…” (Patel & Srinivasan 2002).
Barker “One thousand day hypothesis”
pre-natal nutrition
early life nutrition
impact on later life risks
CHD, Diabetes Type 2
“epigenetic switching”

7. Colostrum Brown Swiss calves fed 2 or 4 litres of colostrum at birth
2 litres colostrum
4 litres colostrum n 37 31
Av daily weight gain (Kg)
0.8
1.03
Age at conception (mths) 14
13.5
% culled be end of Lact 2
24.7%
12.9%
Total milk yield in Lact1 & 2
16044
17072
Faber et al 2005
Prof Anim Scientist

8. Enhanced early life nutrition
Impact on future milk yield
“feeding 50% more milk than standard feed rate”
Study
Increased milk yield in Lact1
Folgdager & Krohn 1994
640
Bar Peled et al 1998
454
Foldager et al 1997
520
Ballard et al 2005
700
Rincker et al 2006
500
Drackley et al 2007
840
Chester Jones et al 2009
820
From Van Amburgh et al 2011
Proc AABP Vol 44

9. What’s happening Correlation between milk yield and ADG pre-weaning
feeding in 1st 5 weeks is key
impact on early mammary development
epigenetic switching
Increased parenchymal growth
Other mechanisms ?????

10. How much milk and for how long ?
Traditional feeding regime
“2 X 2 X 2”
2 litres each feed
2 feeds daily
2 month weaning
Time for a rethink ?
Feed more milk for longer ?
10 – 12 week weaning
Acidified milk ad-lib ?
Machine feeding ?
FCE
3:1 on milk
10:1 on solids

11. Twice daily bucket feeding
Designed to feed for maintenance only
No provision for growth
Encourage early transition to solid feedstuffs
Promote rumen development
Promote early weaning
50kg calves,
Need,
Maintenance ME 8 MJ/day
Growth (1kg/day) 14 MJ/day
Total ME = 22MJ/day
Get,
4 litres milk replacer = 9 MJ/day
50% of dairy calves
LOSE body weight in
the first 7 days of life

12. KTP007995
Development of a novel pre-weaning strategy to improve the health, welfare and productivity of Holstein calves
Gemma Curtis

13. Study design Control group (n = 50) Intervention group (n = 50)
2.5 L twice daily for 21 days then 3 litres twice daily
Wean at 9 weeks
Intervention group (n = 50)
Ad lib milk from day one
Wean at 12 weeks

14. Milk and concentrates intakes

15. Change in weight of calves during the first two weeks of life.

16. Weight change over 72 weeks

17. Trend for earlier conception in
ad lib fed calves

18. Environmental considerations
Temperature
Humidity
Interaction between them
“cold and damp” V “cold and dry”
“hot and humid” V hot and dry
First 14 days of life
“lower critical temperature”
150C but depends on humidity
keeping warm or cool requires energy

19. The environment

20. Coping with heat & cold (increased energy demands)
hot
Feed more milk or MR
150 C + 15%
100 C + 27%
50 C + 40%
00 C + 50%
environment
warmth
absence of draughts
dry bed
solid food intakes fall so..
increase milk or MR
How much more?
environment
air flow
shade
dry bed

21. Other remedies for cold in first 14 days of life ?
Adequate dry straw for “nesting” = + 40 C

22. Weaning of dairy calves.
When calf is eating at least 1.5(?) Kg daily.
When at least 8 weeks old.
Weighing at least 65 Kg (?).
Delay weaning ? - better growth ?
Woodpark (University of Liverpool)
Bucket 9 weeks – 80Kg
Ad 12 weeks – 116 Kg

23. Peri-weaning scour syndrome
Pasty scour, poor growth,
bloat, pot - belly etc.
No bugs yet implicated.
dietary origin?
rumen development pre - weaning.
Look at feeding, management
Pre & post weaning.
Type of concentrate fed
pellet, coarse-mix.

25. Few weeks after weaning
ME ~ 11 MJ/Kg at weaning
Lot of cake & relatively small forage intake
ME ~ 9 MJ/Kg at puberty
ME falls as consumes more forage
Give forage ad lib
Hay/straw
Chopped ?

26. Feeding from weaning to service
DMI ~ 3% at weaning & declines to 2% at calving
Feeding from weaning to service
Targets (Alex Bache)
By 13 – 15 months Kg
> 125 cm height
0.91 Kg dwg from weaning till service
ME ~ 9.0 – 10.5 MJ/Kg DM 15%CP
AVOID FAT
CS 2.5 – 3.0
Options
Straw & cake
Silage & cake
TMR (dry)
Grass in summer
Rapid growth will NOT compromise future production
– a myth ! (fat in udder)

27. Monitor calf & heifer growth
if you don’t measure
you don’t know!
weight
withers height

30. And finally…..
What is the impact of maternal energy status in early pregnancy ?? when is the best time to serve a cow from the calf’ viewpoint ??