Setting Calves and Employees up for Success – Thoughts from Brooke Vanderloop, AVA Group Inc.

Setting Calves and Employees up for Success – Thoughts from Brooke Vanderloop, AVA Group Inc.

Preventing Illness

To prevent illness in the calves the maternity pen is the end all be all and is especially when group housing calves. Also, good ventilation, and supporting gut health to prevent things like scours and secondary infections and respiratory disease.

I feel like, especially in a calf barn situation, you need to have your calf program set up to be successful to prevent you employees from burning out and getting compassion fatigue. I feel like that can be a huge problem with calf people.  Most employees won’t stick around if there are a lot of sick calves and dying calves. The employees care about the calves. If they can’t feel successful in raising them, they won’t be happy in their work. If you want good help, you need to have a good calf program, they both go together.

 

Treating Sick Calves

I do most all the treating. One thing I want to work on this year is to get a protocol zeroed in, so that if per se I want to teach someone to treat calves they could do it how I would do it. I am familiar with my animals and their environment so I can usually tell by looking at a calf if it will be best to treat it with a natural product or if it needs antibiotics. I want to document my reasoning so if needed, someone else could treat the calves just as effectively.

I use Sync powder as a scours treatment. Logistically it was a little difficult for us to use in our group housing program, so Mom had the idea to put the powder into self-fill gelatin boluses, which makes it easy to give it to the calf with a pill popper. I also want to go back to giving Sync on arrival like we have done in the past. It was a great boost to the calf, and it directly impacted average daily gain.

We use Surveillance daily in our milk to prevent illness. I also have been using it more and more as a treatment. It’s very effective on the front end of scours.

The other day I got a preemie calf, I thought she was going to die. She was flat out scouring straight water. I didn’t feed her milk or anything, she couldn’t stand.  I gave her 30 ml of Surveillance and the next morning she looked like a spring chicken. I think I am going to utilize that treatment more.

 

Successful Employees

This year I have been working on communicating better and faster with my employees. I also have a goal to be more deliberate with my team meetings. Number one, so I can tell them how well the calves are doing, and number two, so we can determine areas of improvement. I know a lot of my employees feel appreciated when I show value in their opinions.

Positive feedback is important to everyone, but I feel like it is above average important to me. I know I need positive feedback, and I need to make sure that I also give that to my crew. One way I show appreciation to my employees I always like to have candy and treats available. One of my guys really loves coffee so I make sure there is coffee available every day.

I was reading an article the other day and it said that 27% of dairy farm employees, haven’t gotten positive feedback from an employer for 15 years.  That’s depressing! I would cry!  As employers we need to really focus on the positives for our employees. I am going to be more intentional with positive feedback. When a vendor comes and tells us the barn looks nice, I need to pass that on to my employees and let them know how good of a job they are doing.

 

Thank you, Brooke, for the great thoughts on setting up calves and employees for success! If you would like to hear more from Brooke’s perspective on calf raising you can visit her Smart Calf blog!

 

Surveillance and Sync can be purchased in the Calf Distinction Store.

 

 

Written by: Mariah Gull, M.S.

Fresh Cow Health

Fresh Cow Health

Calving is a stressful event for both the cow and the calf. Management practices that minimize stress and support immune function are crucial during this event. The first few days postpartum are the most critical days in the life of a dairy cow. Proper nutrition and management during this time is important to maintain immunity, prevent metabolic disorders, and achieve high milk production throughout lactation.

 

Metabolic Disorders

A metabolic disorder is a result of a disruption in the cow’s internal biochemical processes. These disorders are often caused by an imbalance of minerals in the blood or improper rumen pH. Cows that experience a metabolic disorder are less productive and more likely to encounter a secondary disorder such as; ketosis, mastitis, retained placenta and uterine prolapse.

 

Rumen Acidosis

Cause: Acidosis is caused by a drop of pH in the rumen. Signs of rumen acidosis include; going off feed, slug feeding, depressed milk fat, diarrhea, laminitis, and a high incidence of displaced abomasum. Acidosis is often caused by poor bunk management or low-quality ration forage.

Low rumen pH is often common in fresh cows as their intakes increase or decrease dramatically, or as they change to a new ration higher in fermentable carbohydrate. This low rumen pH makes the fresh cow more likely to experience acidosis than cows later in lactation.

Prevention: Properly balance diets for energy, and provide smooth transitions from the close-up ration, to the fresh cow ration, and on to the high cow ration. It is also a good idea to offer rumen buffers free choice and/or in the ration.

 

Milk Fever

Cause: Milk Fever is a result of hypocalcemia (low blood calcium). Typically, cows will experience hypocalcemia post calving because of increased demand for calcium as the cow produces more milk. In some cases, the change is more drastic and hypocalcemia is severe enough to lead to clinical milk fever.

This sudden demand for calcium must be accommodated by absorption from the gut or resorption (mobilization) from bone. When calcium supplied from both gut absorption and bone mobilization is not adequate, then milk fever is the result.

Prevention: Consider feeding a negative DCAD diet in the close-up period, and ensure the fresh cow diet is properly balanced. It is also common to supply the cow with an oral calcium supplement at calving as a preventative measure.

 

Displaced Abomasum

Cause: A displaced abomasum (DA) usually occurs within the first month after calving,

and may be a primary or secondary condition. The abomasum migrates to the left or right side, and the gut may become twisted and create a partial blockage of the digestive tract. Fresh cows with low dry matter intake, or those whose ration is changed abruptly are more at risk of a DA.

Prevention: Maintain adequate daily dry matter intake, and blood acid-base balance. Watch for any symptoms of milk fever and promptly treat with intravenous calcium if needed.

 

Ketosis

Cause: Ketosis occurs when the cow experiences a negative energy balance and the body mobilizes large amounts of adipose (fat) tissue. Fat mobilization is accompanied by high blood serum concentrations of non-esterified fatty acids (NEFAs), a large portion of which are directed to ketone synthesis in the liver. Resulting in high concentrations of NEFAs and ketones, and low concentrations of glucose in the cow.

Prevention: Manage body condition in late lactation, heavy cows are more likely to experience ketosis at freshening. Encourage DMI during the close-up and fresh cow periods, and balance rations for both adequate energy and fiber to promote rumen health. Consider including supplements such as; niacin, calcium propionate, sodium propionate, propylene glycol, and rumen-protected choline, during the close-up period as they may help prevent and manage ketosis.

 

There are many different metabolic diseases that fresh cows are at risk for. One thing that they all have in common is that to prevent them from occurring cows need properly balanced rations and we have to keep the cow eating! If the close-up ration is adequately balanced and the fresh cow ration mirrors the high cow ration, fresh cows should experience a relatively smooth transition.

However, there are additional supplements to consider when promoting gut health to keep cows eating and also to support to the immune system through transition. Yeast, probiotics, and chelated minerals have all been shown to promote optimum rumen function and improve overall cow health. One supplement that has all the bases covered is Achieve.

Achieve contains:

  • Multiple strains of live yeast that provide a rich nutrient source for rumen microbes.
  • Viable lactobacillus probiotics aid in stabilizing rumen pH and helping to prevent acidosis.
  • Bacillus subtilis to produce large quantities of digestive enzymes and compete with pathogenic bacteria.
  • Digestive enzymes that stimulate fiber-digestion, stabilize rumen pH, and reduce heat stress.
  • Mannan-oligosaccharide prevents pathogenic colonization in the GI tract.
  • Yucca schidigera modifies ruminal fermentation by altering select microorganism ratios. Resulting in reduction of rumen ammonia and high blood urea levels. Which in turn has been show to improve milk production and conception rates in dairy cattle.
  • Immune Positioning System (IPS) a blend of biologically active polysaccharides and polypeptides. IPS nutritionally assists cows in balancing cellular function, reducing gut inflammation, and supporting the immune system.

Visit with your veterinarian and nutritionist about any management improvements, or ration adjusts that may aid in reducing metabolic disease in your transition cows.

 

Written by: Mariah Gull, M.S.