Feeding whole milk to calves makes sense in some dairy operations, but whole milk does not meet all of the calf’s nutritional needs.  You might say, “that doesn’t make sense!” believing that the cows of today would not exist had the milk of the ancestral cow not been perfect for her calf.  But research shows […]

Article originally written for and published by Progressive Dairy. Successful colostrum management requires careful attention to cleanliness. Colostrum, while it is still in a healthy cow, should have a bacteria count of essentially zero. However, by the time it gets into the calf, bacteria counts are often very high. Feeding “dirty” colostrum sets the calf […]

Article originally published March 11, 2020 for Progressive Dairy. There are many topics to discuss when managing heifer inventory. Producers give careful thought to feed and labor costs, reproduction, semen strategies, etc. – the list can go on and on. While these are all excellent areas of focus, have you ever considered how many replacements […]

First one there is the winner! It’s a race between antibodies in the colostrum and the bacteria in the environment. Who would you like to win? I cannot even begin to count the number of times I’ve read an article or sat through a seminar about the importance of colostrum to a newborn calf. We […]

With the recent high temperatures, heat stress has been a concern on many dairies.  Just like cows, calves experience heat stress, too.  While we do not see reduced milk production, we do see reduced average daily gain, less efficient use of feed nutrients and an increase in treatments.  Below are some tips to help you […]

When you hear the word “transition,” do you automatically think of your pre- and post-fresh cows? Most dairymen do, but there’s another important transition group that requires your attention. That group is made up of calves transitioning off milk and onto a diet made up of dry feeds. Not only are they going through a […]

As I write this blog post, we are experiencing record low temperatures in the Midwest.  The news stations have been telling people to stay inside, schools are closed, tow trucks won’t come for you if you choose to travel and even the post office is not delivering mail.  Our customers, however, are out in the […]

Coccidiosis is a parasitic disease of cattle, sheep, goats, hogs and poultry. It is caused by microscopic protozoan organisms known as coccidia. They live in the cells lining the intestinal tract. Nearly all mature cattle are infected with coccidiosis, but they have developed a natural immunity to the disease and show no signs or symptoms. […]

Form-A-Feed is excited and proud to unveil our new calf program, Prime Life™. The Prime Life program was developed to provide livestock with high quality nutrition during the prime stages of their life. Starting out as young, healthy, growing calves, that successfully transition into strong production animals, the Prime Life program is designed to optimize nutrition […]

Snow has blanketed many areas of the country, and temperatures have dipped below freezing! Use these practical tips to make sure your calves are ready for the cold. 1. Check the feeding temperature of your milk and colostrum. Milk cools quickly when exposed to the colder environmental temperatures and poured into cold bottles or buckets. If you […]

What sets farms with great calf health apart from those that struggle to get calves started? Sanitation. It is a bigger investment of time than money and is certainly near the top of the list of important criteria for getting calves off to a good start. The fewer disease-causing organisms the calf is exposed to, […]

The best age to calve a first calf heifer is 24 months. Or is it? Every month I look at calving data from thousands of animals and I have come to find that it really depends. In every herd’s youngstock program, there is a point that growing a heifer one month longer yields them no […]