David Johnston, who rears a mixture of Holstein and Aberdeen Angus calves on his 170-acre holding at Castledawson, is a long-time customer of Volac Milk Replacers Ireland Ltd.

“I’ve used Blossom Easymix for many years and it’s done a great job from day one,” said David, who, assisted by son Stephen, breeds 80 to 90 calves on farm annually.

“Since our calving began last September, I’ve been using Flourish Calf, the new skim calf milk replacer within the Feed for Growth range, with 40 calves.

"As was the case with Blossom, the calves are very happy with Flourish – it runs well in the feeder and smells great. In fact, the calves on Flourish Calf are even more playful, so we couldn’t have hoped for a better introduction with it.”

Designed to make calves thrive, Flourish Calf features the optimal protein-to-energy ratio required by the pre-weaned calf and is formulated to deliver between 48 grammes and 52 grammes of crude protein per Mcal of ME, tailored to deliver daily calf growth rate targets of between 0.5kg and 1.0kg.

It also contains a proven blend of vegetable oils to provide enough energy to fuel optimum growth, while ensuring that the fat content won’t supress starter feed intake, delay weaning or slow the transition off milk replacer, which can negatively impact a calf’s transition into an adult animal.

David gives all his newborn calves their first feed of colostrum (between three and four litres) within two hours of birth, with two more litres provided after 12 hours.

The newborns are left to sleep on a deep bed of straw for 24 hours (which is essential given that a calf spends 80% of its time sitting down) and receive three further litres of colostrum via teat feeding.

Once the calf has received adequate colostrum and transition milk - generally on either day three or four - Flourish Calf is introduced into the diet.

Access to water, which is essential for rumen development, is also provided from birth and is made available via a drinker after five days.

Also from day five, the calves have access to a dry feed of nuts (replaced daily), featuring 18% to 20% crude protein - for every kilogramme of meal eaten, a calf will drink between four and five litres of water. Such intake is essential in achieving the recommended daily weight gain, while furthering development of the rumen.

Ad-lib straw, stocked in racks, is also provided as an additional source of fibre to assist with rumen development. Meanwhile, David’s calves are weaned from 65 to 70 days of age.

“I’ve had a 100 per cent positive experience with Flourish Calf so far,” said David. “It mixes easily, we’ve had no incidences of either scour or pneumonia whatsoever and all the calves are clearly thriving on it.”

He continued: “JP Harkin, Volac Milk Replacers Ireland Ltd’s rep in my area, provided me with a questionnaire at the start of the (Flourish Calf) trial and one of the questions asked me to place in order, from one to six, the most important criteria when choosing a milk replacer, with one being the most important and six the least important.

“Protein quality has always been my number one consideration, followed by trust in the brand. Price, which was the third-most important factor, in my view, cannot be the ultimate consideration when selecting a quality, proven milk replacer.

"Quality means reliability and reliability is what draws you to a brand and gives you the confidence to stick with it. The trust I have with Flourish Calf is already as strong as what I’ve had using Blossom Easymix and I’m delighted with the way the calves have responded to the new feed.”

Quality means reliability. Reliability is what draws you to a brand and gives you the confidence to stick with it

David, who also sells calf feeders, has been using a computerised feeding system on his own farm for the past 15 years and currently has the Forster-Technik Vario smart in his shed.

During normal environmental conditions, David’s calves are fed seven litres of Flourish Calf daily, with 150 grammes of powder added per litre.

“Being familiar with the feeder’s capabilities from the get-go made the on-farm transition process very straightforward for me,” David recalled. “I set a programme for each calf on the feeder, which is then recorded on to the computer so I know exactly how much feed each of them is getting. From a labour-saving perspective, the feeder has also worked fantastically well for me; it’s incredibly efficient and does its job so well.”

Calving is set to continue on the Johnston farm until April, with David adding: “We’ve a busy few weeks ahead of us here yet.”

Flourish Calf is available alongside the established whey protein concentrate-based range of Feed for Growth pre-weaned calf milk replacers from Volac Milk Replacers Ireland Ltd. Whatever your calf rearing goals, Feed For Growth is your partner in performance.

For further details visit feedforgrowth.com