Managing Dairy Cows

27 JANUARY 2016

While there is much to be said for housing calves in outdoor hutches, it is important to manage and feed them in individual pens even though this may mean more time and labour than if allowed to feed at a communal milk machine, veterinary surgeon, Neil Roberts, told visitors to a Dugdale Nutrition iFeed organised farms open day.

Speaking at Copp Farm, Great Eccleston, Lancashire, Mr Roberts of Dalehead Veterinary Group, Settle said that in one case a farmer had housed calves in individual hutches but instead of feeding them separately had allowed them access to a communal milk machine. The result was an outbreak of scours and pneumonia which individual feeding in the hutches would have avoided. Well managed housing in hutches means that the calves are unlikely to be exposed to pneumonia, however this also meant they were potentially vulnerable to the condition when mixed with other calves.

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