Now that we have entered 2025 and the Christmas period is beyond us, farmers will be thinking about the upcoming spring calving season and how to ensure it’s a successful one.
The start of January always kicks off with calving preparations for dairy farms across the country, and with the first cows calving down in only a matter of weeks, effective preparation needs to be carried out.
Farmers should take a bit of time to reflect on what went well and what could be improved to ensure the season runs as smoothly as possible this year.
Spring is the busiest time of year on the majority of dairy farms, with the arrival of calves and a return to milk production which means being prepared before the madness is essential.
Spring calving
It is important to be well-equipped for the coming calving season and this will mean ensuring that you have enough supplies to see you through the season.
Farmers need to have a look at what supplies they already have in the yard and put together a list of things that they will need to order or purchase.
Below is a list of materials that should be stocked and ready to go before calving gets underway:
- Disposable plastic gloves (long and short);
- Gel and paper towels;
- Calving ropes (minimum of two pairs);
- Calving jack;
- Oxytocin, calcium bottles or boluses and magnesium;
- Disinfectant for navel;
- Brix refractometer to test colostrum;
- Stomach tubes – have a minimum of two to have a separate one for electrolytes/sick calves and another for feeding colostrum to calves;
- Calf tags, notebook or a phone app to record calving information;
- Infrared lamp for sick calves;
- Footbaths with disinfectant.
Cow’s diet
In the lead up to calving, a balanced diet before calving is critical for the growing foetus, udder repair and quality colostrum production.
Many farmers will have this well done by now, but if not, they should still conduct a silage analysis and work with a nutritionist to
tailor the diet accordingly.
By doing this, farmers will know exactly how much concentrates and supplements to add into the cow’s diet to make sure they are meeting their intake requirements.
Farmers need to target having the cows at a body condition score (BCS) of 3.0–3.25 at calving, as not meeting this target may cause problems over the calving season.
Cows that are over conditioned are more prone to calving difficulties and metabolic diseases like milk fever or ketosis and cows in poor BCS will take longer to resume cyclicity post calving.
Adding a pre-calver mineral mix into diet is also crucial, making sure it has trace elements like magnesium to prevent milk
fever and should be fed for at least six weeks before calving.
Ensuring that all vaccinations are up to date, especially if diseases like calf scour have been a concern. Make sure your protocol is up to date and ready to be administered three weeks before calving.
Sheds
The next thing to ensure is that all gates open and close easily, the calving jack and head gates are functional, and lighting is adequate is calving pens, calf houses and cubicle sheds.
The calving area should be clean, well-bedded, and having an adequate clean water supply as cleanliness and hygiene is crucial for reducing disease transmission.
Farmers need to make sure pens are well-ventilated with no draughts, as poor air circulation can lead to a buildup of pathogens that could affect both cows and calves.
Farmers need to maintain good hygiene practices to reduce pathogen exposure before the calving season and right through the calving season.
Getting prepared for the calving season is crucial to setting yourself up for a successful calving season as it will ensure cows are calving down in good condition, supplies are ready to go and that sheds are right for the arrival of calves.
