Overheard at Dairy-Tech 2026

All the calf weaning advice, feeding tips, and questions answered at Dairy-Tech 2026!

Calf Weaning Advice: How to Wean on a Twice-a-Day Feeding System

Q. How would you recommend weaning calves on a twice-a-day feeding system?

A. Rumen development is the most important factor when weaning a calf.

Wean calves once they consume more than 1kg of concentrates for at least 3–4 consecutive days. This shows the calf has an adequately developed rumen, as they can digest a substantial amount of feed other than milk.

Follow a two-step weaning plan. For one week, feed once a day by halving the litres and milk powder quantity. Then reduce the litres by half a litre every few days — but keep the concentration the same!

If you feed higher volumes of milk (more than 6 litres/125g/l), allow considerably longer for weaning. This reduces the risk of a weaning check and ensures the calf consumes enough concentrate to develop an adequate rumen.

Weaning and CMR: Should You Reduce Powder or Litres?

Q. When I wean calves, I reduce the CMR amount but keep the litres the same. Is this advisable?

A. Calves thrive on consistency. Weaning is already a stressful time for calves. Altering the dry matter of the mix adds further stress, which can cause a nutritional upset and extend the weaning phase.

Preventing Bullying at the Teat Feeder

Q. To stop stronger calves bullying others on a teat feeder, I put water in the feeder to keep them occupied. Is this advisable?

A. No, this is not advisable. When calves suckle water from the feeder after a milk feed, they take the water into their abomasum, diluting the feed they just received. This can cause a nutritional upset and open the door to scours.

Try these tips to prevent bullying instead:

• • Change all teats on the feeder at the same time
• • Group faster and slower drinkers together
• • Use feeders with barriers between compartments

Water Intake and Once-a-Day Feeding

Q. Do calves drink more water on a once-a-day system?

Note: Calves require 2 liquid feeds per day for the first 28 days of life.

A. Water intake plays a crucial role in microbiome and rumen development. Daily water intake varies depending on ambient temperature, crude protein, and dry feed intake. Milk feeding frequency alone does not normally affect it. Typically, calves need 4 litres of water for every kilo of concentrate they eat. Research shows calves on a once-a-day milk system consume up to 10kg more concentrate during the rearing period than twice-a-day fed calves, so they do drink more water.

Remember, however, that calves drink milk replacer differently to water. When calves drink milk, the oesophageal groove activates and carries the milk directly into the abomasum.

Milk Replacer Mixing Temperature: Why 39°C?

Q. Why do you recommend mixing at 39°C? My milk replacer advises above 45°C.

A. A recommendation to mix above 39°C signals that the milk replacer contains lower quality ingredients. Manufacturers typically dry these ingredients at higher heat, making the raw materials heat stable. As a result, they offer low or no clotting capability, whey protein denaturation, and limited feed efficiency — potentially increasing pathogens and reducing growth rates.

Our milk replacers use low-heat co-dried ingredients, giving them high solubility, optimum clotting capability, and preserved whey proteins for high feed efficiency.

Fat addition also affects the required mixing temperature.

Does a residue cling to the side of the bucket without fully mixing? This indicates fat-filled whey, which contains around 30% more free fat. Some processors dry milk ingredients and then spray fat onto the outside — leaving fewer molecules for the fat to bind to, and resulting in residue on the side of your bucket.

Bonanza uses fat-filled skim alongside low-heat co-dried ingredients. The process mixes fat and milk, pasteurises them, then forces the mixture through tiny tubes under pressure to homogenise. Every droplet ends up the same size, then gentle drying evaporates the water. This is why our milk replacers mix easily in cold or warm water up to 39°C. Using a higher temperature damages the product, reducing its uptake by the calf and harming your profit margin.d or warm water (up to 39°C). Using a higher temperature on our milk replacers will damage it, therefore it will not be utilised by the calf correctly, and damage your profit margin!