2011 Calf-ETERIA StudyBenchmarking Ontario dairy calf and heifer raising practices

Dairy Farmers of Ontario Dairy Research Communication Extension EventFebruary 21, 2012

Presentation Outline

What is Calf-ETERIA? About the project

Calf and Heifer Management Survey Results

Next Steps

Calf-ETERIA

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

A University of Guelph-OMAFRA Knowledge Translation and Transfer funded project

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

Benchmark current calf & heifer management

Ontario Calf and Heifer Management Survey 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

ber

of R

espo

nses

Calf Care

Who 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**

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 PercentageIndividual 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

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 Birth

TreatmentNone 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%

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

ber o

f Res

pons

es

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 Replacer

Waste Milk

Acidified Whole Milk

Acidified Milk Replacer0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

Num

ber o

f Res

pons

es

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

250

300

350

Num

ber

of R

espo

nses

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

150

200

250

300

Num

ber

of R

espo

nses

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

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)

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

enta

ge o

f Pro

duce

rs

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

ber o

f Pro

duce

rs

Cost of Raising a Heifer

How much does it cost?

$1,000 $1000-1500 $1500-2000 $2500-3000 $3000+0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Perc

ent

of R

espo

nden

ts

Project Status

Management clubs and online modules are underway

Continue to collect data through the summer DHI information Follow-up questions

Thank You