Beef up calf health – expert

Prices are high, four-day-old Friesian bull calves reaching around $180-200 and white--faced calves at least $250, a trend mirrored in many regions. Unfortunately the $250 calves can get as sick as the $15 ones.

While the potential for historically high beef prices and benefits from quality dairy replacement stock is great later in the season, there’s no doubt the profitability and success of calf rearing depends on many factors – initial purchase price, cost of calf milk replacer and feed, deaths or health setbacks, vet fees, and animal health and nutrition. Get the latter wrong and you’re in for a costly, stressful season.

Given calves’ high value, it’s more important than ever to start them well in nutrition, and prevent problems where possible.

Young calves are extremely vulnerable, their undeveloped immune systems and immature digestive systems making them prone to upsets. Having been taken off their mothers and exposed to sources of infection in their new homes and feed sources, health issues are an unwelcome reality.  

Scouring remains a big health issue in calf rearing, able to make even the most seasoned calf rearer want to discard their calfateria for good. 

Good, routine hygiene practices are crucial in minimising pathogen-caused scours. With nutritional scours, early intervention is equally important, especially because they can leave calves more susceptible to harmful pathogens. Regardless of the cause, the effect on the calf is the same – dehydration, loss of electrolytes, dramatic weight loss and loss of energy due to lack of vital nutrients from milk. Dehydration is the major cause of calf death.

It’s vital to replace lost fluids and salts promptly with a good quality oral electrolyte; feed it during the sickness period and into recovery. The challenge can be to get enough into them and at the right time, which makes prevention even more of a focus.

As the demand from consumers for ‘naturally produced’ meat and milk grows, there’s greater emphasis on the use of non-medical treatments during rearing. In Europe a new breed of prebiotic fibre products are helping prevent nutritional scours and the associated complications. These prebiotics support calf health, growth and nutrition, and reduce medical intervention. Prebiotics, well recognised in human health, are becoming available for calves and other livestock. 

Our company’s product Opticell Plus Ultra Fine, for example, is formulated for inclusion in calf milk replacer or whole milk, supporting a healthy gut by nurturing and promoting a good balance of microbes within the digestive tract. They also help in the transition onto new feeding regimes, which in turn, helps to minimise nutritional scours. The benefits include less and more solid faeces, contented calves, early meal uptake and lower incidence of nutritional scours.

www.becfeedsolutions.co.nz

• Trina Parker is country manager for BEC Feed Solutions.