Calf Housing Archives

Don’t let flies compromise your youngstock health

Flies can cause serious stress, disease, and productivity loss in young calves during the summer months. This guide covers effective fly control for calves using hygiene, traps, and natural solutions like garlic supplementation to help protect your youngstock and maintain animal health.

Is your calf housing fit for purpose?

Calf housing can be a new build, an older shed or an adapted building. While designs may differ in structure, the fundamentals should remain the same to support calf health and development. Rearers must provide the right environment from day one. Without it, calves will struggle to thrive. Floor space Floor space is often overlooked […]

Will your calving pen protect the newborn calf from disease?

The calving area is the newborn calf’s first connection with the outside world therefore minimising its risk of contact with pathogens before the immune system has been fortified with colostrum must be a priority. During the birthing process, the calf is exposed to an array of microbes, some of which are provided by the cow […]

Good management of cows in the dry period will reap benefits for their calves

Effective dry cow management is vital for cow and calf health. Balanced nutrition, correct minerals, low stress housing and heat control support immunity, colostrum quality and calving ease. Research shows poor management reduces calf immunity, growth and health.

Be properly prepared to prevent poor performance at calving

Thorough calving preparation, from dry cow nutrition to clean facilities and clear calf protocols, reduces stress, improves calf health and supports better performance at calving.

Calves: How do you house yours?

Rearing of calves can come in many shapes and sizes and varies widely from farm to farm. It can often depend on several factors such as: • Labour• Resources• Feeding method• Space• Personal preference Regardless of choice, their accommodation must provide for the calf’s most basic needs if animal performance is to be maximised, and […]

Pre-calving preparation

From July onwards, we will be getting into pre-calving season and now is the time to start preparing. We asked one of our dairy farmers who runs an autumn block calving herd consisting of 120 Holstein-Friesians (80/120 cows due September), how they prepare for calving [...]

Preventing heat stress in calves will protect growth rates

Calves are increasingly vulnerable to heat stress as hot summers become more common in the UK. Still, there are steps rearers can take to mitigate the impact on their youngstock, such as including additives in calf milk replacers [...]

Reducing the effects of weather stress in calves

Changes in weather conditions can have an effect on calf health and performance, it is common to see a rise in pneumonia and rotavirus cases after a sudden change in weather conditions.

Housing for health-Shed Plan

In our housing webinar, we spoke about the importance of housing and things to consider when planning your shed including:AirflowElevationEase of access for cleaning See the plan for our featured shed here