Calf Rearing
A calf’s development falls into five clear phases. During each phase your calves have particular nutrition and care
requirements, for maximum health and liveweight gains. Providing the right nutrition, care and shelter at each phase will set
your calf up to develop into a highly productive cow, capable of remaining in the herd for five or more lactations.
Five phases of calf development
Phase 1: Colostrum (days 1-4)
Phase 2: Milk feeding (days 5-14)
Phase 3: Milk + Starter Meals/pellets
Phase 4: Weaning From Milk
Phase 5: The Pasture Transition
Phase 1: Colostrum (days 1- 4)
Calves are born with virtually no passive immunity. The first colostrum contains very high levels of immunoglobulin (IgG)
compounds that help the calf to develop its own immune system. Adequate colostrum intake and survival rates go hand in
hand. It’s imperative that every calf receives at least two feeds of first colostrum (2-4 litres total) within the first 6-12 hours
of life.
First 12 hours
The receptor sites within the calf’s gut that allow for the effective absorption of these IgG shut down over the first 24 hours
after birth, making guaranteed colostrum ingestion in the first 12 hours extremely important. So even if you think calves
have had a feed from mum, it is best practice to tube or bottle feed additional first colostrum before the 24 hour window
closes.
Following 3 - 4 days
In the following 3-4 days you should be offering your calves colostrum that has been withheld from the dairy factory. It’s a
rich source of energy and protein in a form that is readily digested by calves and supports growth while their feed intake is
relatively low. Stored colostrum should be warmed to body temperature (39° C) to encourage intake and digestion.
Beating infection and disease
Calves are very vulnerable to stress, infection and any number of diseases when they are taken off their dam and introduced
to new housing. Do your homework with regards to disinfecting the pens and ensuring they are adequately ventilated but
remain draught free. It is often beneficial to incorporate pre- and probiotics into stored colostrum feeding, as they will help
reduce the risk of illness caused by intestinal bacteria, such as salmonella and e-coli.
Phase 2: Milk feeding (days 5 -14)
You have a number of options though the milk feeding phase, each delivering different nutrient levels to your calves. The
three main options are:
1. Whole milk
2. Calf milk replacer (CMR)
3. Whole milk fortified with a CMR
Once daily or twice daily feeding
You can also choose a once daily (1x) or twice daily (2x) milk feeding system. Most calves will benefit tremendously from
2x milk feeding during the first 14 days of life, as their milk based feed is the most digestible source of nutrient while the
rumen is in the very early stages of development.
When assessing the major nutrient requirements of young calves, researchers look at the energy requirements for
maintenance and lean tissue weight gain, along with protein requirements expressed as apparent digestible protein (ADP).
Keep calves comfortable
Calves under three weeks of age have very little energy to spend on thermoregulation and do not retain very much body heat
with their immature coat and low body fat at birth. Young calves are very susceptible to cold conditions and you should
adjust their energy intake accordingly.
For calves under three weeks of age a thermoneutral environment is considered to be 15-25°C. Maintenance energy
requirements will need to be increased if your calves are reared under environmental conditions that regularly fall below
0°C, or if they have any exposure to wind chill.
Energy requirements
Using a typical whole milk analysis of 4.5% fat, 3.5% protein and 4.9% lactose, calves in this phase should receive between
3.5 to 5.5 litres of milk in two feeds daily to meet their energy and ADP requirements. The range is dependent upon breed
and live weight.
If we use a commercial CMR with a standard nutrient analysis of 25% crude protein, 20% fat and 42.5% lactose (as fed), we
should offer 0.5-0.7kg of CMR in two feeds daily.
CMR mixing rates
Typical CMR mixing rates are 12.5% concentration in 2x milk feeding systems. This means you will feed 1.125 litres of
mixed milk blend to deliver 125 grams of milk powder. CMR concentrations may need to be increased for larger birth
weight calves (eg. 15%), as milk feeding rates exceeding 6 litres daily may become impractical.
If you want to bring both of these scenarios together, whole milk fortified with CMR is a positive option. Mixing an 8%
concentration of CMR into each litre of whole milk has a profound influence on nutrient delivery and reduces the volume of
milk required to be fed each day.
With a combination of the whole milk and CMR listed above, 3-4.5 litres of milk feeding will satisfy the nutrient
requirements of most calves in this phase of feeding.
With three viable options, it’s a question of which option best suits your practical system and will best support your calf
rearing goals.
Phase 3: Milk and starter meals/pellets
Even if you’ve provided starter meals/pellets from the day your calves enter the rearing facility, intake in the first 14 days is
often very low and unlikely to deliver sufficient nutrients. This changes significantly during Phase 3 of calf rearing.
Stimulating rumen development
To stimulate both the rumen bug populations and epithelial development (papillae), it is necessary to introduce hard feeds
with higher levels of fermentable carbohydrate (typically starches and sugars) to produce the volatile fatty acids (VFAs)
butyrate and propionate. Research has shown that these stronger acids (relative to acetate) stimulate increased epithelial
surface area and vascularisation.
To encourage early rumen development via hard feed intake, it often helps to move calves to 1x milk feeding programmes
from day 15 on. Both physiological and metabolic responses affect nutritional intake so choosing a 1x milk feeding system
has a major impact on total nutrient supply and availability.
Essential amino acids
Starter meals/pellets should be high in starch (300-400grams/kg dry matter (DM)), sugars (50-80 grams/kg DM) and
metabolisable protein that include high levels of the key essential amino acids lysine, methionine and threonine.
Ruminants older than 6 months have a well established microbial (bug) population that provide a valuable flow of essential
amino acids to the intestines for absorption. But the bugs take time to develop in the rumen of a young calf.
To provide the amino acids essential to lean tissue development - remember, we want lean muscle and frame growth and not
only fat - only high quality proteins such as soybean and canola meal should be offered during this phase. These serve as a
great complement to milk proteins.
1x milk feeding systems
In 1x milk feeding systems as calf liveweight and daily gain targets increase, the quality of protein supplied in starter rations
must be of the highest quality.
Whole milk provides a supply of amino acids to a calf that is very close to optimal requirements. So when milk constitutes
the major component of calf rations, essential amino acid supply does not generally constrain liveweight gain. But in 1x milk
feeding systems we essentially place a constraint on the supply of essential amino acids via milk in order to place a higher
priority on early rumen development.
What about the fibre?
We suggest that all calves over the age of five weeks will benefit from ad-lib access to a source of physically effective fibre
(PEF) that is longer than 50mm. This is especially true of calves consuming more than 0.5kg of starter meal daily.
Phase 4: Weaning from milk
In some feeding systems, calves are weaned from milk for a period before they are introduced to fresh pasture. Keeping
calves housed during this period can boost weight gain as calves doing less physical activity don’t ‘burn’ energy that can be
used for gain.
Daily liveweight (LWT) requirements
Using a high quality starter meal/pellet as before and assuming that each calf consumes a minimum 0.5kg dry matter (DM)
pasture hay daily:
60KG LWT 70KG LWT 80KG LWT 90KG LWT
TARGET DAILY GAIN 0.7kg 0.7kg 0.7kg 0.8kg
ME MAINTENANCE 14.45MJ 16.20MJ 17.90MJ 19.60MJ
ME GAIN 11.90MJ 12.50MJ 13.10MJ 16.10MJ
ME REQUIREMENT 26.40MJ 28.70MJ 31.00MJ 35.70MJ
ADP REQUIREMENT 260g 273g 286g 336g
HAY OFFERED 0.5kg DM 0.5kg DM 0.5kg DM 0.5kg DM
STARTER REQUIRED DAILY 1.96kg 2.18kg 2.39kg 2.80kg
On the surface, most would consider that we have reached the point where calves can be transitioned from high protein (20%
crude protein (CP)) starter meals to moderate protein finisher meals (16% CP). What this table highlights is that if the
protein concentration of the starter meal is lower, we’re going to need to feed unachievable levels of intake in order to meet
apparent digestible protein (ADP) requirements.
Until this phase of feeding, our milk or CMR inputs have provided a very strong source of essential amino acids (EAA's). If
we were to transition calves from a high protein starter to a product lower in metabolisable protein supply, we will reduce
the supply of EAA's. This will have a negative impact on muscle development, frame growth and mammary development.
Housed calves
Calf rearers who keep calves housed during this phase of feeding could consider the introduction/transition to a higher
protein hay, such as lucerne. While we have only really been offering hay as a source of physically effective fibre until this
point, we now need it to provide a source of metabolisable protein and energy.
Over time the whole rumen environment develops and microbial colonisation reaches maturity, which means the bugs
themselves are producing more microbial protein for intestinal absorption as EAAs.
It’s the availability of these amino acids for intestinal absorption that we are ultimately interested in. Once calves cross over
the 100 kg liveweight threshold, research suggests moving from the use of ADP for protein assessment to
theRDP/UDP system.
Phase 5: Pasture transition
The final phase of successful calf rearing is to guide calves through the transition into grazing pastures. Everything you have
done until now has been focused on preparing your calves for this final stage of development.
If we have paid good attention to early rumen development, we will have groups of calves that, relative to their liveweight,
have optimal rumen capacity and muscularity. They will also have outstanding papillae surface area and vascularisation,
underpinned by a rigorous bug population capable of digesting cellulose, hemicellulose, sugars, starches, fats and various
protein sources.
Slow transition from pellet/meal feeding
Vegetative pasture provides a very good source of rumen degradable protein (RDP), highly digestible neutral detergent fibre
(NDF), sugars, along with variable but solid levels of essential macro and micro minerals. Pellet/meal feeding should not be
stopped on the first day calves hit the paddock, as abrupt dietary changes can result in growth checks and even weight loss in
severe cases. Calves will benefit from continued access to supplementary feeding for at least 6 weeks into pasture grazing.
Between the ages of 2-10 months, research has shown that lifetime milk production of dairy stock can be negatively
impacted by growth rates that are either too low or excessive. The most commonly accepted weight gain target for this
period is 0.75-0.8kg daily.
Weight gain should not be measured during this phase without the context of frame growth, the best being wither height, hip
height and hip width.
Protein requirements and supply shifts from apparent digestible
protein (ADP) to rumen degradable protein (RDP) and undegraded
dietary protein (UDP):
100KG LWT 150KG LWT 200KG LWT 250KG LWT
TARGET DAILY GAIN 0.7kg 0.75kg 0.75kg 1kg
ME MAINTENANCE 18.2MJ 24.7MJ 30.6MJ 36.2MJ
ME GAIN 14.2MJ 17.8MJ 19.8MJ 30.2MJ
ME REQUIREMENT 32.4MJ 42.5MJ 50.4MJ 66.4MJ
RDP REQUIREMENT 328g 429g 535g 671g
UDP REQUIREMENT 235g 221g 199g 231g
PASTURE OFFERED 1kg DM 2kg DM 4.5kg DM 5.5kg DM
HAY OFFERED 0.4kg DM 0.25kg DM - -
STARTER OFFERED 2kg 2kg - 1kg
With high quality vegetative pasture and a 20% starter feed in the ration, we still have an 80 gram deficit for UDP. Pause for
a moment to consider if we see signs of this reflected in poor frame growth and lean tissue development post weaning.
The effectiveness of Phase 5 rations is not only focused on achieving short term growth targets, but positioning your dairy
heifers to realise their lifetime genetic milk yield potential.