Practice Tips
Calves need water as much as other nutrients
Without adequate, free-choice water, calves are at risk of altered metabolic function, decreased starter intake and lower weight gain. The Ontario Veal Association provides details and guidelines on the importance of water in calf diets.
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Age at first calving declines
A report from the Penn State Extension team indicates that age at first calving for dairy heifers continues to decline, which in turn can save producers money.
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Video: How to improve your mastitis treatments
Didn't make it to World Dairy Expo this year? Here’s your second chance to take in a mastitis seminar presented there.
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Cow age and treatment response
Treatment response in mastitis cases is not just a bug-drug interaction. The complexities of the cow’s immune status as well as her age can also have an effect.
Older cattle have a greater risk of both subclinical and clinical mastitis, and poorer responses to treatment compared to younger cattle.
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Create momentum in yearling heifers
Yearling heifers need to be on a good plane of nutrition to meet their growth needs. “Because mature cows will maintain body weight on moderate-quality forage, some ranchers forget that growing yearling heifers will not gain the weight they need to reach puberty on the same quality of forage,” says Bob Larson, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACT, Dipl. ACVPM, Kansas State University.
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Stalks can be cost-effective for heifers
While much of the country is still feeling the effects of the drought, it’s still important to keep young heifers nutritionally sound in a cost-effective manner.
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Transporting baby calves
The DCHA Gold Standards III from the Dairy Calf and Heifer Association includes information on transporting dairy calves to ensure their health and welfare.
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Digital deworming tool from Merial
Merial has launched a new website, www.TruthAboutDeworming.com. The new resource provides a digital deworming tool that will give cattle producers immediate evaluations of their current deworming protocols.
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Six ways to help feedlot cattle adapt
Acclimating new cattle the feedlot takes good management and animal husbandry skills.
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Tips for mycotoxin management in dairy feed
Due to this year’s ominous drought, many producers are now faced with the challenge of how to feed the 2012 yield to their livestock.
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Drought feed options for feedlots
Drought silage can be an excellent feed. After testing to assure that the product is safe for feeding relative to nitrate content, diets of predominantly silage can produce daily gains of 2.0-2.5+ pounds per day.
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