2011 Calf-ETERIA StudyBenchmarking Ontario dairy calf raising practices & Opportunities

for Improvement

Vivianne BielmannPurina ROF Meeting March 22, 2012

Presentation Outline What is Calf-ETERIA?

About the project

Calf and Heifer Management Survey Results Opportunities for improvement

Project Status

Calf-ETERIA

Using CALF health and productivity as a template for an Evaluation of Translation and Extension of Research Information for Agriculture

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

Project Objectives Benchmark current dairy calf and heifer management practices

Develop approaches to undertaking KTT initiatives to improve awareness and 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

3 KTT Approaches Calf and Heifer management clubs

Including interaction with veterinarians

Web-based KTT for BMP’s for calves & heifers

Control Group

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

Expected Benefits and Impacts

Expected Benefits and Impacts

IMPACTS To change and improve specific aspects about

the management of calves and heifers on Ontario dairy farms

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

Status of Survey

Distribution of Herd Size

0-50 cows

51-100 cows

101-150 cows

151-200 cows

201-250 cows

251-350 cows

400+ cows0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

500

Num

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Calf CareWho FrequencyOwner 352Spouse 86Owner/Spouse 66Family Member 90Employee 24Multiple Individuals (combination of 2 or more of the above)

330

**N=948****51.6% male, 21.5% female, 26.9% both**

Time Spent on Calf CareTime Spent Percentage

Less than or equal to 1 hour/day 53.5%

1 – 2 hours/day 42.4%

2 – 3 hours/day 0.8%

More than 3 hours/day 3.3%

**N=849**

Cost of Labour

Employee wages, for calf care, ranged from $5 /hour up to $25 /hour, depending on the farm

Where are Calves normally Born?

Location Percentage

Individual Calving Pen 31%

Group Maternity Pen 11.6%

Dry Cow Pen 7.8%

Tie Stall/Free Stall 7.9%

Pasture (when applicable) 29.6%

Combination of 2 or more of the above 40.2%

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

Separation of Calf from DamTime from calving to separation

Morning(N=929)

Afternoon(N=924)

Evening(N=925)

Night(N=920)

0-2 hrs after calving 46% 35% 40% 11%

2-6 hrs after calving 25% 37% 19% 35%

6-12 hrs after calving 16% 13% 24% 36%

Greater than 12 hrs after calving

13% 15% 17% 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

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%

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

Products administered shortly after BirthTreatment

None 490 (51.5%)

Vitamin E/Selenium 218 (23%)

Vitamins A, D and E 97 (10%)

Oral Antibody or vaccine 277 (29%)

Iron 26 (3%)

Intranasal Viral Vaccine 3 (0.3%)

More than one of the above 152 (16%)

**N=950N.B. – Percentages do not add up to 100%

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

Colostrum FeedingMethod 0% 1-10% 11-30% 31-50% 51-90% 91-100%

Bottle 101 31 34 77 350 336

Bucket 639 13 10 12 26 33

Tube 293 315 103 38 30 64

Amount of Colostrum Fed

2 L or L

ess 2 L 3 L 4 L

More than 4 L

Other0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

First FeedingWithin First 12 Hours

Num

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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

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)

Milk Feeding

Whole Milk

Milk ReplacerWaste Milk

Acidified Whole Milk

Acidified Milk Replacer0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

Num

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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)

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

0-3 L 4 L 5 L 6 L 7-9 L 10L or more0

50

100

150

200

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300

350

Num

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

0-3L 4 L 5 L 6 L 7-9 L 10 L or more0

50

100

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300

Num

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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)

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

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

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

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)

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

Weaning Method

Abruptly stop feeding

Decrease volume

Dilution of milk

Intermittent feeding0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Perc

ent o

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duce

rs(%

)

Weaning How is the time of weaning decided?

Calf age 812 Calf weight 293 Starter/grain intake 454*often this is a combination*

Weaning Age

5 weeks or le

ss

6 weeks

7 weeks

8 weeks

9 weeks

10 weeks or m

ore0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Perc

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Health Problems – Post-weaning

175 producers considered respiratory disease to be a common or very common health problem in post-weaned calves

Vaccination

Are calves vaccinated for respiratory disease? 47 % are vaccinating calves against respiratory disease

Rations for Heifers

What type of ration are heifers fed? Components 52% (455/868)

Top-dressed 22% (190/868)

TMR 26% (223/868)

Age at First Breeding

≤ 12 months

13 months

14 months

15 months

16 months or more

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

Num

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Cost of Raising a Heifer How much does it cost?

$1,000 $1000-$1500

$1500-$2000$2000-$2500

$2500-$3000

Greater than $3000

-10%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

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

Next Steps Finish analyzing survey results

Follow-up with participants in the summer

Continue collecting data DHI records Follow-up

Thank You

www.calf-eteria.com