Weather
We live in exciting, but challenging times. According to the weather experts, the current weather will have been the worst since 1982. There are about four essential things that farmers need to do over the coming days. Animals must have feed and water. Dry cows will get away without water for a few days, but milking cows must have access to it. Shelter is important for all stock, but particularly youngstock. All animals will need a dry lie, but because youngstock lie down more it is more important for them. Sheds that are open to the east will provide very little shelter for animals – they would be better off outdoors at the other side of the shed, where the snow will blow over them. If animals have feed, shelter and water they will be fine. Farms are automatically more dangerous places to be because of the snow, so take extra precautions. If conditions are bad, milk the cows once a day and drain the milking machine as dry as possible after milking. Milking once a day might be a smart move to reduce the draw on cows, whose intakes will probably be back in this weather. It will help to maintain body condition score and keep fat and protein levels up and it will also reduce workload for a few days. Where cows have had to be re-housed, feed the best-quality silage that is available. This weather will pass and when it does there will be plenty of stories, like in 1982.
Calves
According to AHDB in the UK, calves need to be fed extra milk in cold temperatures. Calves up to three weeks of age will need an extra 50g of milk replacer, or an extra 0.33l of milk per day for every five degree drop in temperatures less than 15°C. Calves older than three weeks of age will need the same feed increase, but for every five degrees less than 10°C. Basically, if it’s -5°C, young calves will need an extra litre of milk, or 150g of milk powder per day. March is a high-risk month for calf disease. Scour and pneumonia are the big risks. The current cold spell will be good at killing bugs that live in calf houses, but hygiene is still critical. Most calves that get scour die from dehydration rather than the bug itself. So scouring calves need extra feed, not less. In bad cases they will need to be fed up to four times per day. Mix milk with electrolytes. Don’t stop feeding milk because if you do, you will reduce the calf’s energy intake.
Homemade electrolytes are available, such as this recipe: 2tbsp of glucose, 1ds of baking soda, 1tsp (heaped) of common salt and 2l of water. Add molasses or caramel flavour to make it more palatable.
Make up a 2l bottle of concentrate and dilute as required. It’s important not to use ordinary sugar instead of glucose, as ordinary sugar is a carbohydrate that cannot be metabolised by calves.
In many cases, it is easier to have electrolytes in stock and use whenever needed. With many marts not running there will be extra bull calves around for the next week.
Add to this the fact that calves cannot be turned out to grass yet, meaning that calf sheds are under pressure. Use plenty of bedding and don’t mix calves to help prevent disease.