AFBI Hillsborough research cuts calf costs by 20%
Livestock farmers can reduce calf rearing costs by up to 20% without impairing performance if they manage their calves individually, according to results from official studies carried out within the dairy herd at Hillsborough by the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute. Compared with calves weaned at the traditional 8 week of age, those weaned based on their starter concentrate consumption weaned one week earlier and consumed almost 5kgs less of both milk replacer and concentrate, yet by 20 weeks of age, both groups of calves recorded similar weights.
Calves sourced from AFBI Hillsborough’s 330 dairy herd were introduced to one of two feeding systems at four days of age: a standard 8 week weaning system with milk replacer fed at 0.5kg per day, or a weaning system based on individual calf concentrate intake. All calves were fed through a fully computerised milk and concentrate feeding system.
When calves on the concentrate dependent weaning system were eating 0.5kg per day of solid feed for four consecutive days, their milk replacer allowance was automatically reduced, before being withdrawn completely when they were recorded as eating 1.5kg of concentrate per day over four days. Calf performance, health and intakes were recorded in both systems until weaning, and the calves were weighed again at 20 weeks.
“The calves on the concentrate based weaning system ate 4.8kgs per head less of both milk replacer and concentrate compared with those calves introduced to the standard rearing system. They had also reached a level of solid feed intake to enable us to wean them eight days earlier,” explains AFBI Hillsborough’s Dr Steven Morrison.
Table I: Concentrate dependent v standard weaning systems: intake and costs (pre weaning)
|
|
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Milk replacer (kg)
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18.3
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23.1
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Concentrate (kg)
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17.0
|
21.8
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Feed Costs (£)
|
30.07
|
37.56
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“Weaning management based on concentrate intake rather than calf age can reduce feed costs to weaning by 20%,” said Dr Morrison. “This study was performed using a computerised feeding system but could be adapted for the conventional bucket system. Bucket based rearers through monitoring starter concentrate intake and adjusting milk allowances accordingly could make similar savings.
He adds: “We are following up these results with another study to determine the optimum concentrate intake threshold immediately pre-weaning that minimises cost without compromising calf performance.”
Volac’s Sophie Gale commented: “In addition to making feed cost savings, compared with traditional 8 week weaning, concentrate dependent weaning will introduce major savings to labour requirements on a livestock farm. Not only is the time spent feeding calves reduced, farmers find they leave more quality time to manage their youngstock. This system can be easily adopted into a bucket rearing system but is an inbuilt facility with many computerised systems. The computerised system has the additional facility to monitor every individual calf’s behaviour enabling farmers to check drinking speed and intakes, which can be an early indication of a calf health issue. Overall the concentrate dependent weaning system can benefit both the calf and the rearer – a real win:win solution.”
