Early Calf Life Survival

February 21, 2024, 7:00 PM MT

The first 24 hours of a calf’s life are the most critical. Ensuring calves have a good start to life can make them more productive and profitable at weaning and beyond.

This panel will discuss key methods for calf health management plus helpful on-farm interventions to make sure calves have a solid foundation at birth. The panelists will be available to answer your questions.  

This webinar is available for one CE credit for RVTs and DVMs across Canada. After watching the entire webinar recording, you may take the quiz to receive a CE credit.

SPEAKERS:

  • Dr. Roger Richard, Shoal Lake Veterinary Clinic
  • Dr. Claire Windeyer, University of Calgary Faculty of Veterinary Medicine
  • Heidi Bennett, W.A. Ranches

Key Messages:

  • Ensuring cows have a good body condition score (BCS = 2.5-3) helps prevent dystocia and ensures they have the nutrition to support lactation and respond to vaccination.
  • A well-designed and properly timed vaccination protocol for your cows helps give calves their best start by priming colostrum. 
  • Check cows often and know when to intervene – once you see feet, calves should be out within an hour and a half.  
  • Double loop chains when pulling calves to avoid cutting off circulation
  • Once calves are born, get them breathing, get them up, and get them fed. 
  • Calves should receive at least 1.5L of good quality colostrum between 1 and 6 hours after calving.
    • Colostrum quality matters. DO NOT source colostrum from another farm or dairy operation. 
  • Electrolytes are your most important tool when treating scours. Be sure to have 2 separate tubing apparatuses for sick and healthy calves.  
  • Leave pairs where they calved and move pregnant cows out to calve on clean pasture (Sandhills Calving System).  

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