Monday, 01 August 2016 07:55

Are you ready? Six tips for success

Written by 
Make sure to meet the calves’ need for colostrum, water and shelter. Make sure to meet the calves’ need for colostrum, water and shelter.

Calving is getting underway in many regions, seeing farmers excited to see their future herds hit the ground, LIC says.

"Getting the most out of these carefully bred young stock starts at birth, so here are some tips to help you and them survive and thrive in the rush of spring":

1. Immunity - Is delivered via colostrum. Make sure they have had 2-3L of first milking colostrum in the first six hours and another 2L in the first 24 hours of life.

2. Top notch process - When and how do you collect the calves? Do you have a system for making sure every calf gets navel sprayed, tagged and fed colostrum?

3. Roster well ahead - Make sure your staff know which days they're rostered on. If you're sole charge, consider hiring casual help occasionally to let you spend time elsewhere if you need to get essential jobs done.

4. Keep on top of bugs - There aren't enough hours in the day to do everything, but make sure you stay on top of calf shed sanitation. Mortality rates can soar quickly in dirty sheds. Talk to your veterinarian about the best products to use.

5. Calf care - For a refresher on the key points, read the Calf Care resource from DairyNZ. Make sure you know how to meet the calves' needs for colostrum, handling, shelter, bedding, and water.

6. The right rearer - Have you got the right rearer for your calves? They need to be reliable, hard-working, caring and observant, and have the willingness to deliver extra TLC when it's needed.

With processes in place, staff trained and the calves in good hands once they're in the shed, calving should go smoothly.

More like this

LIC ends year with $30.6m profit

Herd improvement company LIC has ended the 2024-25 financial year in a strong position - debt-free and almost quadrupling its net profit.

Featured

Fencing excellence celebrated

The Fencing Contractors Association of New Zealand (FCANZ) celebrated the best of the best at the 2025 Fencing Industry Awards, providing the opportunity to honour both rising talent and industry stalwarts.

B+LNZ launches AI assistant for farmers

Beef + Lamb New Zealand has launched an AI-powered digital assistant to help farmers using the B+LNZ Knowledge Hub to create tailored answers and resources for their farming businesses.

National

Machinery & Products

JDLink Boost for NZ farms

Connectivity is widely recognised as one of the biggest challenges facing farmers, but it is now being overcome through the…

New generation Defender HD11

The all-new 2026 Can-Am Defender HD11 looks likely to raise the bar in the highly competitive side-by-side category.

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Buttery prize

OPINION: Westland Milk may have won the contract to supply butter to Costco NZ but Open Country Dairy is having…

Gene Bill rumours

OPINION: The Gene Technology Bill has divided the farming community with strong arguments on both the pros and cons of…

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter