New calf feeding trial highlights benefits of once a day milk feeding
“In our study the calves fed once-a-day recorded significantly higher daily liveweight gains from start to three weeks. They were also weaned 5 days earlier having gained an extra 7.8kg in liveweight,” reports trial project co-ordinator Simon Marsh, senior lecturer and beef specialist from Harper Adams.
“Overall the performance of both groups of calves was very good, exceeding the recognised target for rearing calves to 12 weeks of 115kg (see table 1 page 15),” Simon Marsh says. “But the Once-a-Day calves did do that little bit better. And, interestingly, the contentment of the calves fed once-a-day was also noticeable. They drank their three litres in a single feed then rested and weren’t at all hungry later in the day. They were also free from nutritional scours, unlike some of the twice-a-day fed calves, and had increased rumen girth measurements; an indication of improved rumen development, potentially because of their higher (11.5kg) concentrate intake.”
Feed costs per calf were increased by £4.35 (€5) on the once-a-day system, but the feed cost per kg of liveweight gain was actually 4.7p (5cent) lower based on costs prevailing at the time of the study. “In any case, the saving in labour charges – estimated at around £10(€12) per calf in a study we conducted in 2007 – would negate the increase in overall calf feeding costs,” Simon Marsh notes.
Simon Marsh says the results will be interesting for calf rearers, offering many food for thought as they contemplate a variety of business challenges. “Provided you use the right skim-based milk replacer product, calf health and performance is excellent with the added bonus that the system releases time for other important stockmanship tasks such as the early identification of disease,” he says.
