Feeding a dairy calf from birth to 12 months of age
Feeding is fundamental in establishment of a strong foundation for a profitable dairy herd. We have to start with the basics. A dairy calf should be fed well right from birth to maturity. This will prepare her to produce more milk and gather more value. You will get more milk and no cases of delayed or silent heat.
The first 3 Days of life;
A calf should be fed on clean and high quality colostrum alone. The colostrum should be warm, provide her with colostrum directly from the dam. In commercial dairy farms, we don’t allow the calf to suckle.
Provide her with a total of 6 litres of colostrum a day. Water should be introduced to her early enough in order to train to differentiate it from milk. This will be important to prevent health conditions like blood in urine.
Learn more on how to feed her:-
2 Weeks of age;
You should introduce starter pellets upto 50 grams per day. Soft solid feeds such as sweet potato vines should also be introduced. This will help in development of the rumen part of the stomach.
1 Month of age;
She should be fed on 3-4 litres of cow milk per day together with about 120 grams of starter pellets. Feeding frequency should be twice a day.
At one month of age, you should deworm your calf and introduce Ndamaplus at the rate of 12.5 grams mixed with the soaked pellets.
2 Months of age;
Continue providing your calf with 2-3 litres of cow milk and starter pellets. Ensure that you deworm her and continue using the right mineral lick.
3 Months of age;
Prepare your calf for weaning. Provide her with 1-2 litres of milk and finisher pellets. Deworm her and continue using mineral lick and introduce mineral block. Remember to continue using Ndamaplus®️ in order to prevent stress that comes after weaning. It helps your cow to grow faster.
4 Months of age;
Provide her with calf weaner meal. She is is wean off. Provide her with adequate amounts of hay and silage. Deworming should be done as well. This ensures that she is well ushered into the next phase of life.
5 – 12 Months of age
In most cases, this phase becomes the hardest to most dairy farmers. Their growth slows down, health becomes poor, some calves fail to stand up and they may die. You may have experienced these challenge before. Do not be afraid, we will show you how to go about this phase properly and incase you have young stock that are already suffering you can contact our team of experts for help.
Introduce dairymeal to your dairy calf at the rate of 1kg per day. Provide her with high quality feeds for example high quality corn silage and bhoma rhodes. Majority of us fail to provide enough quantity of fodder to our fast growing calves at this age that contributes to poor growth rate. Our standard at Dairyverse Consulting is ad libitum provision of fodder;- self limit. Allow them to have enough of the fodder because their bodies have a high demand for energy that is primarily gotten from these feed sources.
To help in proper formation of bones and body structure provide her with mineral licks rich in calcium. Past 6 months of age, ensure that you deworm your calf after every 2 months. This eliminates competition for nutrients and helps the calf to grow faster.
Ensure that your managers and farmhands observe your calf closely in order to have her in good health. Provide comfortable housing as well.
Proper application of the aforementioned best practices will bring you admirable results;- Timely onset of heat and high milk yield after calving.
