Calves are going to encounter stress. Vaccinations, pen moves, changes in environment and unexpected management challenges are all part of raising cattle. The goal is to build calves with enough resilience to handle those challenges without becoming overwhelmed.
Dr. Joe Armstrong, dairy technical services veterinarian with Zoetis speaking during a recent Hoard’s Dairyman Webinar, uses the analogy of a cup of coffee to explain the concept. A cup filled to the brim will spill with even a small bump. Leaving some room at the top provides a buffer for the inevitable disruptions along the way. Calf management should follow the same principle: build enough capacity that routine stress does not push calves past their ability to cope.
Armstrong outlines five priorities for building that resilience during the preweaning period, emphasizing that they should be addressed in order.
1. Prioritize Colostrum Management
Colostrum is the foundation of the calf’s early immune protection, and timing, quantity, quality and cleanliness all influence the success of passive transfer.
Armstrong emphasizes delivering the first feeding as soon as possible:
“We need to get in there quickly; within the first two hours is ideal. That is the goal. Every hour that we delay getting colostrum into the calf, our absorption efficiency goes down, and they lose the ability to absorb those antibodies as well as they did in the previous hour.”
For volume, Armstrong recommends feeding 4 quarts to larger calves and 3 quarts to smaller calves. He also encourages a second colostrum feeding, which can provide additional antibodies even though the calf’s ability to absorb them systemically has declined. The second feeding may also help provide antibodies locally in the gut.
Quality is another important part of the program. Armstrong recommends targeting at least 24% Brix for the first feeding, along with careful attention to collection, storage and delivery hygiene. Colostrum contamination can undermine an otherwise strong feeding program.
2. Take Care of the Dam
The calf’s resilience begins before birth. Dam health and nutrition, particularly during the dry period, can influence the performance of the next generation.
Research examining the effects of heat stress during the dry period has shown that heat stress experienced by pregnant cows was associated with reduced milk production in their daughters across subsequent lactations. The effects also extended to the next generation.
“For me, this is the most impactful evidence we have for it,” Armstrong says of the research. “We need to take care of mom and make sure that that daughter does well. But then even on top of that, what I think is most fascinating in this paper is that it applies to the granddaughter as well.”
The findings reinforce the importance of dry-cow management as part of a calf-health strategy. Providing appropriate nutrition, heat abatement and cow comfort helps support the dam while potentially influencing the performance of her offspring.
This means evaluating calf health alongside the conditions cows experience before calving. Problems that appear in the calf barn may have roots earlier in the production cycle.
3. Provide Adequate Calf Nutrition
Nutrition helps determine how much growth and physical reserve a calf builds before facing the next challenge. Armstrong contrasts conventional milk-feeding programs with accelerated programs, explaining that calves receiving more nutritional support can develop greater body reserves.
“When we look at feeding an accelerated milk program we have that body fat reserve. We’ve got the growth that we wanted, and we see that we are going to build a calf that has that resilience,” Armstrong says. “You can see a few bumps in the road and some challenges, and not even bat an eye.”
Veterinarians and producers should evaluate whether the current program provides enough nutrition to support the growth and development expected from the calf.
Armstrong encourages producers to consider both feed quality and how much milk is being fed. A calf that enters the next stage of management with limited growth and reserves may have less capacity to handle setbacks. Working with a veterinarian and nutritionist to evaluate the feeding program can help identify opportunities to improve calf development.
4. Provide Time and a Low-Stress Environment
When calves experience a significant stressor, recovery needs to be part of the management plan.
“What we need is time and a low-stress environment to take those stressed cattle and rebuild that resilience,” Armstrong says. “And there’s no other way to get that except for time in a low-stress environment to rebuild that buffer.”
That means paying attention to the conditions calves return to after stressful events. Clean, comfortable housing, consistent care and minimizing unnecessary disturbances can help provide the opportunity for recovery.
This is particularly important when calves have already experienced multiple challenges. A calf that arrives with a substantial stress load may need more time and support before it can handle another disruption. Recognizing that need is part of managing for resilience.
5. Avoid Stacking Stress Events
Some stress is unavoidable in a calf-raising operation.
“In a normal operation, we’re going to have stress. We’re going to have to do things that cause stress, whether that’s pen moves or vaccines, or just cleaning the pen and moving the cow around. We know those things are going to happen,” Armstrong acknowledges.
The challenge is deciding when and how to carry stressful events out.
Armstrong’s recommendation is to avoid piling those events on top of one another. Planned operational stress may use some of the calf’s available capacity, but management should leave room for challenges that cannot be predicted, such as weather changes or unexpected disruptions.
He describes the goal as filling the cup only partway, then returning calves to a low-stress environment and allowing time to rebuild their capacity. Scheduling management tasks thoughtfully and avoiding unnecessary overlap can help prevent routine events from becoming a larger cumulative burden.
Use Growth to Assess Calf Resilience
Building resilience is an ongoing process, and producers need ways to evaluate whether their calf program is working. Armstrong points to average daily gain as one useful indicator of overall calf health and resilience:
“The better we can get these calves to grow, the more resilient they are going to be to disease.”
Tracking weight gain can help identify whether calves are receiving the nutrition and care needed to support development. The Dairy Calf and Heifer Association’s benchmarks can help farms evaluate growth against established targets. Working through those measurements can also help identify where management changes may have the greatest impact.
Ultimately, building a resilient calf requires attention across the entire preweaning program. Colostrum, dam health, nutrition, environment and thoughtful scheduling of stress events all contribute to the buffer calves need. No operation can eliminate every challenge, but a systematic approach can help ensure calves have more capacity to handle the ones that come their way.
