FEEDING SYSTEMS

After the colostrum has been fed, a wide range of feeding systems is available for calf rearing. The systems vary in terms of labour input and cost, but probably largely reflect the personal preference of the calf rearer.

• twice a day bucket fed warm

• once a day bucket fed warm

• cold ad lib

• ad lib machine feeding

• computer controlled machine feeding

Twice daily bucket feeding has the highest labour input but feed costs are low and as each calf receives individual attention, management and calf performance are optimised. Ideally each calf has three buckets, one for water, one for milk and one for concentrates. The water and concentrate buckets are left in front of the calf all of the time, as in Plate 2.1. At feeding time, the concentrate bucket is removed and a bucket of milk is offered. As soon as the calf has finished drinking its milk, the milk bucket should be removed, and the concentrate bucket replaced. This encourages the calf to start eating solids. Some people leave the milk bucket in place under the concentrate bucket and never wash it out. They say that the risk of cross-contamination when washing out buckets is far too great, and provided that the calf drinks all of its milk, it is not necessary to wash the bucket and you simply put the concentrate bucket into the empty milk bucket. This system certainly saves labour and is becoming increasingly popular.

For the first five to seven days the calf will probably only drink its milk if it can suck your finger. It can then slowly be trained to drink from the bucket. An alternative system is to provide the calf with a teated bucket. If allowed to drink from this for the first two weeks, it is surprising how many calves will take directly to drinking from the bucket.

The amount of food fed will depend on the bodyweight of the calf and the growth rate required.

It is commonly considered that scouring and other digestive upsets in calves are the result of an infection. Whilst this may be true in some instances, adverse management is often equally to blame. The following sections therefore describe the importance of good digestion, the significance of oesophageal groove closure, the importance of the abomasal milk clot and potential problems with feeding milk substitutes. Management deficiencies in any of these areas commonly lead to calf diarrhoea.