Throughout the semester I will be collecting data on calf temperatures, colostrum information, sire and dam records, and more! The purpose of this project is to hopefully highlight any husbandry areas that we could improve upon so that our calves are receiving the best possible care.
As of this winter we started to adjust the early care for our newborns that are only a few days old by keeping them indoors in a temperature controlled environment (the calf hutches with few modifications make excellent moveable pens which has allowed us to start raising some calves inside). In theory, we want to see if this will improve the quality of life of our calves by providing them with extra attention for their first introduction to life on the farm. In other words, we want to give them a jumpstart to ensure they remain healthy and happy. This little jersey girl was one of the four heifer calves born today and she was especially wet after birth so to avoid hypothermia I checked her temperature and quickly moved her indoors into a calf hutch. As you can see, she is enjoying her time in the warm room and is eagerly awaiting her dinner!
Part of my data collection as I mentioned above will include colostrum data. For example, in the picture below this is jersey 330 and she was born this afternoon on (2-1-2024). I simply took a brix refractometer reading of the colostrum and as long as the returning value is above or equal to 22 it is considered to be good quality and will be fed to newborn heifers. This jersey for her first feed received only one pint of 30+ brix reading, but on her second feeding we gave her 4pts of a colostrum with 25 brix reading which she happily guzzled down! I intend to provide research updates weekly to any interesting observations or to simply share a small piece of what research in the dairy industry might look like.
Today we shipped 4,729 gallons of milk.
There were a whopping five calves born today; three Holstein heifers, one jersey heifer, and one spunky Holstein bull calf!
No comments:
Post a Comment