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Comfort for Cold Calves- High energy diet essential to keep them healthy

Cold weather causes stress in baby calves leading to health problems such as calf scour and pneumonia.

Research carried out under cold weather conditions in USA reveals that when calves are only just having enough energy for maintenance, their immune systems do not mature quickly enough to cope with infectious disease.

Says Gill Dickson, “the lower critical temp (LCT) is the temperature at which calves start to use energy to maintain body heat. Calves under 3 weeks old have an LTC of 20⁰Centigrade and they require 40% more energy just for maintenance when temperatures drop to 0⁰C.”

“If you feel the calf’s backbone at 2-3 weeks old and it is more prominent than in a newborn calf, your calves are using up body tissue to keep warm” adds Gill.

She suggests some practical steps to increase energy intake and reduce ‘chilling’:
• Increase the volume of milk fed (preferably split into several small feeds)
• Increase the amount of milk powder in a given volume of water. Increase from 125g/litre up to 150g/litre
• Feed milk from fresh calved cows which is higher in milk solids for the first few days of life
• Use a high fat (20% ) milk replacer such as Wynngold Bloom or Wynngold Rich Cream
• Offer warm water and highly palatable starter feed (Start ‘n’ Wean nuts) to encourage extra dry feed intake
• Block off draughts at calf level
• Provide a warm DRY bed and a ‘nest’ area
• Provide a heat lamp for sick calves