Journal article
A survey of calf rearing practices in the south-west region of Western Australia
New Zealand Veterinary Journal, pp.1-7
2022
Abstract
Aims
To gather data on the calf management and rearing practices of a subset of dairy farmers in the south-west region of Western Australia.
Methods
A 30-minute face-to-face survey was conducted with dairy cattle producers in the south-west region of Western Australia from April–June 2019 to determine pre-weaning calf rearing practices. Participation was voluntary, using a self-selected subset of dairy farmers registered with a regional extension group. The questionnaire assessed three broad categories: farm demographics, colostrum harvesting and management and calf rearing practices.
Results
The study response rate was 34/140 (24%). The following key areas were identified where there were deviations from recognised best practice: Precalving: no transition diet was fed pre-calving on 4/34 (12%) of farms, and on a further 5/34 (15%) it was fed for less than 3 weeks; mixing of heifers and adult cows in the calving paddocks occurred in 24/34 (70%) of the farms, with 15% (5/34) of the farms using calving induction. During calving 14/34 (41%) of the farms did not disinfect navels of new-born calves; although 23/34 farmers stated that they collected calves within 6 hours of birth, data on frequency of calf pick-up (2/34 did not separate calves and dams and 19/34 picked up only once per day) indicated that on 21/34 farms (62%) the reality was that calves were picked up >12 hours after birth. Colostrum quality was not assessed appropriately on 18/34 (53%) farms and farmers overestimated how soon after birth it was administered: 23/34 (68%) reported feeding it within 6 hours of calving, despite 62% picking up calves >12 hours after calving. Regarding calf rearing practices, no pain relief before or after dehorning was used on 20/34 (59%) farms, calf bedding was removed infrequently (<weekly) on 26/35 (76%) farms and appropriate isolation of sick calves was only reported by 14/34 (41%) farmers.
Conclusion and clinical relevance
Although limited by the low response rate, this is the first survey of dairy calf rearing practices in the south-western region of Western Australia. We found evidence of at least one process inconsistent with industry best-practice on 34/140 (24%) of responding farms and all farms had more than one sub-optimal calf rearing practice. This highlights the need to improve calf rearing in this region and identifies key areas of deficiency for further study and extension to producers.
Details
- Title
- A survey of calf rearing practices in the south-west region of Western Australia
- Authors/Creators
- J.W. Aleri (Author/Creator) - Murdoch UniversityA.D. Fisher (Author/Creator) - The University of MelbourneJ. Gogoi-Tiwari (Author/Creator) - Murdoch UniversityF.K. Waichigo (Author/Creator)H.R. Sodagari (Author/Creator) - Murdoch UniversityP.C. Irons (Author/Creator) - Murdoch UniversityI.D. Robertson (Author/Creator) - Murdoch University
- Publication Details
- New Zealand Veterinary Journal, pp.1-7
- Publisher
- New Zealand Veterinary Association
- Identifiers
- 991005539982807891
- Murdoch Affiliation
- School of Veterinary Medicine
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article
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Source: InCites
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InCites Highlights
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Citation topics
- 3 Agriculture, Environment & Ecology
- 3.51 Dairy & Animal Sciences
- 3.51.2057 Colostrum
- Web Of Science research areas
- Veterinary Sciences
- ESI research areas
- Plant & Animal Science