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Milk Feeding Calves Once a Day Versus Twice a Day
Selecting the correct feeding method for your calves can depend on what resources and labour are available on the farm.
Once a day milk feeding after 28 days of age is a very popular choice amongst many farmers across the world. Yes, it requires less time and is a handy system which works extremely well. But there are definitely a few things which must be adhered to so that the calves perform optimally.
• Calves must be fed a milk replacer formulated using LOW-HEAT good quality skim and milk derived proteins to ensure a proper clot/coagulation occurs in the abomasum.
• Clotting allows for slow release of nutrients throughout the day keeping the calves satisfied for longer.
• Calves MUST have access to clean water and fresh meal 24/7
• Calves MUST be fed at the same time every day
• Milk concentration and temperature must not differ from day to day – CONSISTENCY is key!
A recent study (Mushtaq et al., 2024) has been published to look at the effects of once-a-day milk feeding on behaviour and growth performance of pre-weaning calves.
Twenty-four Holstein calves were randomly assigned to two treatment groups at 22 days of age. Twelve of them were fed twice a day (3L am & pm) and the other group only once per day (6l).
All the calves were weaned at 60 days old.
Every calf was weighed and measured at 3 weeks of age and again at weaning. They each had a logger fitted on their foot which recorded the behaviour data to show lying time, standing time etc.
The findings showed there to be no effect of milk feeding frequency on routine behavioural parameters, body weight or structural measurements. Therefore, it was concluded that once-a-day milk feeding can be safely adopted in preweaning calves.
In agreement with these results, other recent findings (Scoley et al., 2021) showed that calf lying behaviour was unaffected by reduction in milk feeding frequency. However, calves fed twice a day in this study recorded a significant decrease in total daily lying time during the post-wean period compared to calves fed once a day from 28 days old. This may indicate that the calves fed twice a day were more stressed when the milk was removed and the once a day fed calves were better able to deal with weaning.
Again, it was concluded from this study that under high levels of animal husbandry and whilst maintaining the same amount of milk powder/day, reduction in milk feeding frequency from twice to once daily at 28 d can occur without significant impact to behavioural, performance and physiological parameters assessed in the study.
An earlier trial conducted at Harper Adams University (2007) also looked at the effects of once or twice per day milk replacer feeding systems on performance of purchased 3-week-old dairy-bred beef calves to 12 weeks.
The once a day fed calves outperformed the other group in weight gain throughout the study. The twice a day fed calves experienced some nutritional scour.
As expected, concentrate intakes from start to 12 weeks were increased by the once-a-day feeding system. They consumed an extra 11.5kg per calf of starter pellets. The increased concentrate intake with reduced incidence of nutritional scour would explain the increased live weight gain.
The once-a-day reared calves recorded an increased rumen girth measurement which is an indication of improved rumen development because of increased concentrate intake.
It was concluded that there were no detrimental effects on calf health with feeding milk replacer once-a-day. Water intakes were significantly reduced with the twice-a-day fed calves; this is likely due to the reduced level of concentrates consumed.
Once a day feeding is a system that should not be overlooked as the studies have shown that the calves do not appear to be stressed in terms of their behaviour, they grow well, and their health is not compromised. Rumen development is better due to the earlier consumption of dry feed. It is important to remember that the earlier the rumen microbes are activated the earlier we can start growing our ruminant animal.
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