Dairy Beef - Birth

Dairy cows must have a calf every year to keep producing milk. When calves are born depends on the milk production strategy for the dairy herd, but typically pure bred calves for use as replacements in the herd will be born first, with cross bred animals being born later. It is these cross bred animals plus the bull calves that are the source of beef from the dairy system.

Some herds calve all year round and others in the autumn to target higher milk prices or for management reasons.

The navel of a new-born calf is often treated to prevent joint-ill, a serious disease which can enter the calf before the area dries and seals naturally.

It is essential that the calf suckles within 6 hours of birth to receive colostrum which passes antibodies from mother to calf to combat disease and is also very nutritious.

Calves are normally left with their mothers for 3 to 4 days before they are returned to the herd and the calves are reared on articficial milk in individual pens or batches.

Rearing young calves together can present several problems and diligence is required to watch for the early signs of problems. However ensuring warm but well ventilated housing, clean and dry bedding, good quality feed and clean water usually minimse the risk of the most common illnesses.

"Scours" is the most common of calf diseases resulting in diarrhoea, dehydration and often death if not detected and treated quickly.

The weight of new-born calves varies with breed and sex but an average would be 40 kgs. Twins are uncommon occurring in only about 2% of pregnancies, other multiple births are extremely rare.

Calves must be tagged in both ears within 20 days of birth and for calves born on dairy herds one of the tags must be fitted within 36 hours. The unique ear tag shows both the herd number and the individual 6 digit number for the calf.

Most male calves will be castrated before they are two months old to prevent them becoming aggressive or attempting to breed with young heifers later in life. In some cases bull calves will be reared as bull beef and will be penned up with other bulls before reaching sexual maturity so castration does not occur.

Most dairy herds want to breed some pure-bred heifers each year so some calves will be bulls of dairy breeds such as Holstein, Friesian and Ayrshire. Other cows are crossed with another breed such as Charolais, Limousin, Hereford or Aberdeen Angus. The use of artificial insemination allows farmers to breed from many different bulls according to the replacement policy of their herd.