Article

Get storm ready and protect your calves.

The first big storm of the autumn ‘Storm Ashley’ is predicted to hit the UK and Wales this Sunday with winds of up to 80mph and flooding risks.

However, there are some things you can do now to help reduce stress on your calves during the stormy weather.

Create a nesting area in pens

Calves should be adequately bedded with good drainage to minimise the chance of wet and ultimately cold bedding.

Nesting in the bedding can be scored out of three and a nesting score of three should be aimed for, this is particularly important when the calves do not have jackets or a nest to hide in.

Nesting Scores

1) calves lie on top of the straw with legs visible

2) calves lying down have part of their legs covered and slightly nesting

3) all calves legs are covered when lying down

Along with providing plenty of bedding to nest in, here are some other factors that can help:

• Reduce the number of calves per pen

• Avoiding dehorning, weaning, or mixing calves for up to four or five days after a storm

• Increase the morning feed rate during bad weather as calves prefer a bigger morning feed and will be more settled during the day

• Increasing bedding rates during bad weather

Storms can be a huge stressor for calves for many reasons; they often put more pressure on staff therefore less time to spend with calves. They can require earlier housing, putting older animals under stress and creating more pathogens on the farm. Bedding can get wet and draughts created from changing wind directions.

Feed areas can also be too airy and more bullying can take place in the pens as calves battle for the few warm and dry areas in the house.

The weather just before and after a storm is also a factor, health issues can last for weeks, especially if calving is taking place during that period too.

During cold weather, some of the most important elements of the immune system don’t function as effectively, especially those that fight viral infections, and this means vaccine protection against virus infection is also reduced.

This is because calves will use sugar to keep warm and sugar is also required by the immune system.

Fighting disease can increase a calf’s sugar energy requirements significantly and if the calf must also produce heat to keep warm then the immune system is compromised.

But with good preparation you can help your calves weather the storm and keep them healthy through the autumn months.

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