2011 calf-eteria study
DESCRIPTION
2011 Calf-ETERIA Study. Benchmarking Ontario dairy calf raising practices & Opportunities for Improvement. Vivianne Bielmann Purina ROF Meeting March 22, 2012. Presentation Outline. What is Calf-ETERIA? About the project Calf and Heifer Management Survey Results - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
2011 Calf-ETERIA StudyBenchmarking Ontario dairy calf raising practices & Opportunities
for Improvement
Vivianne BielmannPurina ROF Meeting March 22, 2012
Presentation Outline What is Calf-ETERIA?
About the project
Calf and Heifer Management Survey Results Opportunities for improvement
Project Status
Calf-ETERIA
Using CALF health and productivity as a template for an Evaluation of Translation and Extension of Research Information for Agriculture
What is Calf-ETERIA ? A University of Guelph-OMAFRA Knowledge Translation and
Transfer funded project.Team Members:
Ken Leslie – Project Coordinator
Tom Wright – Project Co-Coordinator
Vivianne Bielmann – Project Manager Trevor DeVries Mario Mongeon Brian Lang Bill Grexton
Harold House Mark Carson Betty Summerhayes Ian Rumbles
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
Expected Benefits and Impacts
IMPACTS To change and improve specific aspects about
the management of calves and heifers on Ontario dairy farms
Ontario Calf and Heifer Management Survey
Questions about calf and heifer management From time of calving up until breeding age
Fairly long – 87 questions
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 o
f Res
pons
es
Calf CareWho 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**
Time Spent on Calf CareTime Spent Percentage
Less than or equal to 1 hour/day 53.5%
1 – 2 hours/day 42.4%
2 – 3 hours/day 0.8%
More than 3 hours/day 3.3%
**N=849**
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 Percentage
Individual 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
Separation of Calf from DamTime from calving to separation
Morning(N=929)
Afternoon(N=924)
Evening(N=925)
Night(N=920)
0-2 hrs after calving 46% 35% 40% 11%
2-6 hrs after calving 25% 37% 19% 35%
6-12 hrs after calving 16% 13% 24% 36%
Greater than 12 hrs after calving
13% 15% 17% 18%
Separation Technique Total Separation to Calf Housing 758 (81%)
Partial Separation using a tub or gate 98 (10%)
Other + Partial or Total separation 17 (2%)
Other 67 (7%) Methods Used:
Moved to box stall/calf pens Tied to corner of calving pen Cow is removed from pen Tied up alongside cows Calf stays with cow for hours/until licked dry/up to 3 days
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 BirthTreatment
None 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%
Colostrum Feeding What percentage of calves nurse the dam?
0% 429 1-10% 189 11-30% 83 31-50% 49 60-90% 30 91-100% 18
Colostrum FeedingMethod 0% 1-10% 11-30% 31-50% 51-90% 91-100%
Bottle 101 31 34 77 350 336
Bucket 639 13 10 12 26 33
Tube 293 315 103 38 30 64
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
Differences in Volume of Colostrum Fed
Weight 132
Calf’s Health Status 215
Sex of Calf 19
Let calf drink ‘at will’ 7
Combination of 2 or more of the above 115
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 ReplacerWaste 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 o
f Res
pons
es
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 o
f Res
pons
es
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
Recording Information What information is recorded on individual calves?
Nothing 60 ID info 911 Calving ease info 796 Stillbirth 806 Routine procedures 262 Calf disease events 371 Calf health treatments 463 Growth 62 Death after 24 hours 602 Weaning date 105
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)
Health Problems – Pre-weaning 438 of producers ranked scours as a common (3 or 4
on a 1-4 point scale)
Respiratory disease was ranked as common by 216 producers
Navel ill, lameness and droopy ears are considered less common during this period
Weaning Method
Abruptly stop feeding
Decrease volume
Dilution of milk
Intermittent feeding0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Perc
ent o
f Pro
duce
rs(%
)
Weaning How is the time of weaning decided?
Calf age 812 Calf weight 293 Starter/grain intake 454*often this is a combination*
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
Health Problems – Post-weaning
175 producers considered respiratory disease to be a common or very common health problem in post-weaned calves
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$2000-$2500
$2500-$3000
Greater than $3000
-10%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Project Status
Management clubs 4 locations – Tavistock, Listowel, Elmira and
Kemptville ~35-45 producers participating Will be completed March 31st
Online modules On-going ~30 producers participating
Next Steps Finish analyzing survey results
Follow-up with participants in the summer
Continue collecting data DHI records Follow-up
Thank You
www.calf-eteria.com