WINTER BONUS MAGAZINE 2025

A calving season plan Mark Willment - Technical Advisor: Dairy Having a well-thought-out calving plan before the season begins can significantly ease the workload during the busy period. It can also lead to lower mortality rates, healthier calves, improved growth performance, and amore satisfied team. Without a plan, you’remore likely to respond to problems reactively, relying on amix of newmethods, medications, and procedures. While this “shotgun” approachmay eventually solve the issue, it makes it difficult to identify which solution actually worked. Your current calf rearing strategy might be effective – and if it is, there may be no need for change. However, it’s worth evaluating whether it could be improved. Sometimes a system appears to work well, but hides inefficiencies or unnecessary costs. You may be tempted to cut expenses, but it’s important to consider whether doing so could compromise calf health and long-term productivity. We could divide the system into three sections or measures: 1. Fundamentals 2. Preventative 3. Treatments As a well-respected headmaster once said, “There are certain things that do not change and must not change” – I think we can use this in our approach to calf management. The fundamentals are well known and basic. This includes colostrum management, feed and water, basic housing needs, sanitation, and consistency. The success of the calving season also starts before the calves hit the ground. The vaccination programme for the mothers and the timing are critical. Farms may vary with regard to challenges, but the fundamentals are always the same. These three aspects are also in order of importance. The fundamentals need to be at an acceptable level before preventative and treatment measures are put in place. The preventative and treatment measures cannot correct the lack of basic fundamental measures needed for good, healthy calves. For example, treating all calves for a sickness instead of trying to find the reason why these calves are getting sick in the first place. The following are some examples of a few fundamental aspects: Colostrummanagement (first 24 hours) : • Calves should receive colostrum within the first 1–2 hours after birth. • Use high-quality colostrum (thick, yellow, and clean) with high antibody levels. Winter 2025 BONUS www.agribonus.co.za 74