Identifying sick calves this spring is vital for early treatment to get calves back on track and prevent the spread throughout the shed.

Calving has had a slower start this spring, with many farmers opting for a later planned start, which has resulted in less calves on the ground compared to this time last year.

As a result, peak calving is only beginning now, and with more calves on the ground day-by-day, the workload is increasing.

When calves are moved into large groups and are being fed in a big batch, the signs of sickness can sometimes go unnoticed.

Quite often, farmers ask a young student or relief worker to feed calves in the mornings and evenings, while the farmer looks after grass allocations, feeding silage, and milking.

These workers may not have the same experience as the farmer and may not notice a calf that is unwell.

On the farm at home, I notice that sometimes you presume the worker can identify ill calves or has the same know-how, but through no fault of their own, they may not and just have to be shown.

Making sure that everyone on the farm is an expert and that when a calf is identified and treated, that everyone knows and it is communicated to all staff, is vital.

I’ve yet to know anyone that gets through the whole calving season without having a sick calf or some other sort of problem, but early identification can reduce treatment and recovery time.

Sick calves

There are a number of indictors that farmers need to make clear to all workers on the farm this spring which could help to identify calves that are sick or in ill health.

It’s crucial for the survival of the calf that, when they are not in good form, the problem is detected as early as possible to avoid the disease escalating.

Calves should be bright and active when they are being fed with ears perking and being lively in the pen.

The indicators to look out for are as follows:

  • Slow to get up to feed or failure to get up at all;
  • Sunken eyes into eye sockets;
  • Breathing heavily or elevated heart rate;
  • Isolated from other calves;
  • Swollen or inflamed naval;
  • Nasal discharge;
  • Faecal inconsistency.

Calves that are identified should ideally be separated from their group into an isolation pen or calf recuperation pen where an infra-red heat lamp is set-up to get heat into calf.

Getting heat into the calf will leave the calf with energy to fight off her infection and help her get back to eating and drinking, instead of this energy being used to stay warm.

Separating the calf from the main group also helps to prevent the spread within the shed, and ensures that treatment is easy to carry out on the sick animal.

Colostrum

I know the importance of colostrum is stated a lot at this time of the year, but there is no doubt that calf health and calf immunity starts with quality colostrum in the calf’s early life.

Calves are born with no immunity and only obtain immunity from material antibodies passed through colostrum.

Farmers should remember the ‘1-2-3’ colostrum rule so that the calf gets colostrum from the first milking for the first feed, within two hours of the calf’s birth, and are given at least 3L.

Calves can’t obtain the antibodies in the colostrum after 24 hours after birth, and so the effectiveness of colostrum reduces with time after calving.

While maximum absorption of antibodies occurs within two hours of birth, the absorption capacity is reduced to 50% within six hours of birth.

Colostrum quality can be measured with a colostrometer or a brix refractometer that should read values of above 22% if the colostrum is suitable to be fed for newborn calves, ensuring the feed contains 50mg/ml of immunoglobulins.

When it comes to sick calves and colostrum feeding, when there are a few people helping around the yard this spring, it is crucial for farmers to have standard operating procedures (SOPs) clearly printed out to make sure everything is done to the same standard.

When it comes to sick calves and treating them, they need to be recorded on whatever app the farm uses or written down clearly for everyone else to see. Communication and consistency with calves is key.