Most Irish dairy farms operate a spring calving system with the majority of calves born in February and March so it's a very busy time of year. Farming papers are full of instructions for directions for improving calf health and reducing mortality. If you're married to a new entrant dairy farmer or you're wondering what being married to a dairy farmer might be like during the calving time, here's the low down on what you need!
#1. Chocolate
Not for the calves or even the cows but the farmers here need a a steady supply of chocolate to get us through the busiest six weeks of calving. I'm not talking small bars either - I buy lots of big bars of Cadbury's chocolate every week. . Rather infuriatingly though, Brian doesn't put on any weight and even loses it. Whereas I, well, I never seem to shift the Christmas excesses.
#2. Camera
No, not your smartphone for selfies with the cute calves but a calving camera so you can keep an eye on the cows in the maternity and calving sheds. Why do we need to see the cow calving? Well, it's in case something goes wrong such as if she's not making progress because a hoof might be turned back, or if it's born with the sac over its mouth and nose, it could smother. We hope to not have to intervene but like to keep an eye. And then, of course, it's the importance of getting colostrum into the calf. See below!
#3. Cute Calves
There's nothing as cute as newborn calves. When we were kids, my dad used to let each of us choose a calf for our own. My sister used to keep changing her mind every time a particularly cute calf (usually small) was born even though my dad kept telling her that larger ones were more profitable. I still name quite a few of the calves - sometimes a derivative of the mother's name, sometime something that comes to mind or suits the calf. For example, a calf that nearly died was called Gloria (as in Gloria, Hallelujah), Sid was given to the calf with a cleft palate (as he held his head sideways - Sideways Sid) and Babog was given to the tiniest calf of the year - a mere 16kg.
#4. Colostrum
Colostrum - the liquid gold and otherwise known as biestings! Calves are born without immunities hence the important of getting all the goodness and protection provided by their mothers' colostrum particularly in the first milking. Calves need a minimum of three litres, preferably within two hours of being born. And as the quality of the colostrum in the udder descreases after birth, it's important to milk the cow as soon as possible and then feed the calf either by bottle or tube. Why don't we let the calf suckle the dam? Some farmers do but there's no way of knowing how much the calf has suckled is the major disadvantage.
#5. Keep Calm
There's no point getting into a fluster if things start to go wrong - it won't help farmer, cow or calf.
It's much easier to stay calm if sheds are cleaned out and disinfected in good time, you have everything you need to hand and can then deal with any difficult calving as they happen. It can get a little fraught if a calf is coming backwards as the head is coming last and if born too slow, it could stop breathing. Once it is out, it's all hands to the deck to rub the chest to free the lungs of any liquid, tickle the nose with straw, blow into its mouth and lift it by the legs to hand over a gate with its head hanging down, trying to stimulate breathing. Yes, for a couple of minutes, staying calm is very important and it's a lovely feeling when they do come back to life in front of your eyes. If they don't, it's always a little bit soul destroying. Yes, farmers do get emotional sometimes when they lose an animal.
#6. Cross Cows
While most cows will appreciate a helping hand (if required) to help them deliver their offspring, some aren't as appreciative of your efforts, particularly if they suspect you might harm their precious newborn. It's more of a problem with suckler cows which aren't handled as much but can happen occasionally with dairy cows and heifers too. Stay near the exit, don't let yourself be cornered and keep an eye on the new mum's reaction to you as well as the calf. A head butt from a large animal like a cow can kill and you don't realise how strong and fierce they are until they are filled with menace.
#7. Compact Calving
I was quite shocked once when I was having a chat about calving on twitter when I was asked if compact calving meant that we induced our cows to make them give birth early and get them back into the milking parlour! I've never heard of anyone doing it and it is illegal here. Compact calving means trying to get as many of your cows calving within a six week period as you possibly can. It's all down to good fertility within the herd and spotting when they are on heat nine months previously. The reasons for this are higher profitability and easier management.
#8. Keeping Calves Cosy
Calves need to be cosy. Their sheds need to have plenty of fresh air but yet be draught-free. They need plenty of clean straw - when you think they have enough, you should add 20% more. They take in a lot of milk, wee a lot so the straw gets damp quite quickly. Apart from the need to have dry material to lie on, baby calves sleep a lot too and when they are lying down, their noses are very close to the smells and fumes of the urine which isn't good for their lungs. They should look so cosy that you wouldn't mind getting into the pen and lying down with them - apart from the fact that they'd suck you to death of course!
We put a calf coat on each calf to ensure they're warm and cosy, and aren't using energy to keep warm. Why didn't they have coats years ago, you might ask. Well, calf sheds tended to be smaller then, hence warmer. While our calf shed is draught free, it's large and airy and not a cosy environment on a cold night. Plus, in order to try and eliminate risk of pneumonia, we have two fans running the length of the calf shed to keep the temperature even and the air circulating.
Cleanliness is important too of course - the calving shed and calf shed are disinfected, as are the teat feeders and buckets on a regular basis. It's strange but I actually get more satisfaction from scrubbing calf feeders clean than washing my kitchen floor!
#9. Cacophony
Just open the calf shed door at feeding time and your ears will be deafened by a cacophony of moos. Once healthy calves recognise you as their proxy mum and the calves in the first pen get their milk, the others will bellow until the milk reaches them. It's when a calf is silent and morose that you get concerned! Once fed, they will mill around, and gradually go and lie down until the shed is full of slumbering and content calves.
Other C's
Other requirements beginning with 'C' are a calving jack or pulley (for easing the calf out if assistance is required), a calving gate in the calving pen or failing that, a crush or chute (these secure the cow so the farmer isn't at risk when helping her). Hopefully caesarean sections won't be required!
In Ireland, most dairy herds calve their cows in the spring, from February to April and while it is a busy time, it is always interesting to see what the calves are like, how the cows calve, which are the easiest calving AI bulls, if any of the potential 'bull mothers' have bull calves and if they might be considered for purchase by AI stations although we'll be hoping for heifers from them really!
I always aim for 0% mortality. It's not easy to achieve. Sometimes things go wrong or there's something abnormal with the calf or pneumonia isn't picked up in time or there's a bad crypto infection through the calves. I achieved 0% last year and was over the moon. We've 174 cows to calve this year so fingers crossed, we can achieve it again.
Don't forget to have a cupan tae and if you have time for a book and fancy a laugh, do check out any of my books.
