Grober Nutrition

Posts Tagged ‘common diseases’

Grouping

After weaning, calves should be housed in equal sized / aged groups, ideally one week after milk feeding has ceased. This avoids two major changes in routine at one time. Group calves according to size.

Weaning from a machine feeding system is normally reached earlier (as early as week 5) and should still be tied to starter intake (min 900g for 3 consecutive days).

Environment

The calf’s environment is very important in ensuring its health. Calf housing should provide a clean environment that promotes healthy calves, minimizes disease risk and mortality and hence encourages high growth rates. One of the most common diseases caused by its environment is pneumonia. It can be prevented by:

• A warm dry bed

• Adequate pen dimensions

• Easy access to feed and water

• Keeping stocking density low

• Providing adequate ventilation with minimum draft

• Relative humidity should be kept low and air movements maintained even in cold weather

• Not mixing calves from different sources

Calf accommodation and pens should be thoroughly cleaned, disinfected and de-stocked on a regular basis.

The climatic environment of the calf can have a major influence on its nutritional requirements.

Extremes in both heat and cold will impact the calves’ efforts to maintain a constant level of body heat and continue to be productive. Calves have a thermo-neutral zone considered to be 10°C to 26°C. Environmental temperatures outside that range result in higher caloric demands simply for maintenance. The lower critical temperature of a calf declines with age (see table below).

This energy requirement detracts from growth and may have a negative effect on efficiency and even health. Research, under controlled conditions with adequate bedding and dry humidity, indicate that calves housed at -4°C require about 30% more calories for maintenance. This number will increase as temperatures reduce, humidity rises and calves are subject to wet bedding etc.

Heat Stress: above 26°C increases cortisol and decreases colostrum absorption. High temperatures tend to reduce feed intake.

Andre Roy MSc.
Sally Charlton BSc. (Hons)
April 2003

Every animal producer needs a disease monitoring and management program. These programs should be monitored with the practicing vet and might consider:

• Which diseases are present,
• Which ones can be minimized or prevented,
• How infections ones are identified and treated,
• What safeguards are in place to minimize disease spread
• Minimize the likelihood of public health problems.

Health problems and their prevention should be central to many of the daily management decisions.

Losses from ongoing infectious problems tend to be insidious. These losses can include treatment costs, reduced productivity and animal death.

Even with the best possible management, disease is a fact of life. We can manage animals as a herd, but disease ultimately shows in individual animals. Monitoring disease with a prompt and accurate diagnosis provides an important tool on disease management.

Disease is a direct function of exposure to causative agents in quantity to overpower defense mechanisms. It is easier and more cost effective to try and prevent disease situations than to cure them once they have become established. Decreasing exposure to disease is a primary method of decreasing disease.

Health costs rank second to feed costs in most facilities.

Common diseases that can also limit future productivity include:

• Salmonella*
• E.coli scours
• Septicemia
• Bloat
• Pneumonia
• Ringworm
• Coccidiosis
• Lice

*Disease can also infect humans.

Newborn/Young Animals are the must vulnerable animals on the farm to infection and disease. Some of these disease conditions can be transmitted through feeding practices.

Andre Roy MSc.
Sally Charlton BSc. (Hons)
April 2003