Small details lead to stronger calves

Raising healthy calves starts with the fundamentals: quality colostrum, consistent feeding and clean, dry housing. It may sound simple, but establishing clear protocols and following them day in and day out make a real difference in calf health, performance and productivity.

Like many dairy farm kids, caring for calves was my first job. I started by tagging along with my mom, feeding bottle calves when I was 3 years old and graduating to carrying pails and taking on more responsibilities as I grew.

I earned a degree in meat and animal science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and worked at the campus Dairy Cattle Center throughout college. After marrying my husband, Chet, I joined his family’s dairy, learning their routines and working with calves in the morning and feeding at night.

Chet’s parents, Don and Pat Dolph, started Dolph Dairy LLC in 1987 with 30 cows. The farm has expanded its facilities and cows, and we’re currently milking about 700 cows and raising our own calves and heifers. We have about 16 employees, with four full-time and a few part-time employees focused on calf care.

Today, I help manage our herd, employee schedules, reproduction and other protocols. Although I no longer feed calves every day, I work closely with our calf team, review daily records and help evaluate animals that need extra attention.

Start with the fundamentals

Everything comes back to the three Cs: colostrum, consistency and cleanliness.

Colostrum is our first priority. All calves get colostrum as early as possible, always within the first hour. We use a Brix refractometer to evaluate colostrum quality, with heifer calves receiving the highest quality, followed by bull and beef calves. We want to give them the best start with a strong immune system.

Respiratory health is another key focus. We raise calves in individual hutches, which provide good air quality and help limit disease transmission. Calves receive vaccines at birth and again at about 70 days before transitioning to group housing.

Keeping hutches dry and clean takes daily attention, especially during cold and wet weather. In summer, we keep grass and weeds trimmed around hutches to minimize flies.

Aim for consistency

One of the most meaningful improvements came from looking more closely at feeding times. I noticed a trend that feeding was starting a little earlier than the usual schedule some afternoons. While 15 minutes here or there may not seem significant, it created inconsistencies in calves’ daily routines.

We worked with our consultants to create and print a detailed calf schedule and posted it where everyone could see. The change was simple, but it created both transparency and accountability, and we noticed healthier calves with fewer digestive issues when we were back on a consistent schedule.

We also conduct cleaning audits with adenosine triphosphate testing to check for bacteria levels on equipment. It is a good way to evaluate our practices and recognize team members for a job well done and encourage them to keep finding ways to improve. One protocol we follow to achieve cleanliness standards is stacking buckets in a pyramid after cleaning to allow them to dry completely.

All the small steps prove themselves worthwhile when we see consistent growth and performance beyond the calf stage. Our goal is to breed heifers at 13 months of age so we are calving at 22 months, and we rarely have calves that fall behind. We also have a less than 1% death loss in calves after the first 24 hours.

Reinforce the “why”

Even the best protocols can lose their effectiveness when small shortcuts become habits. Avoiding that procedural drift is why training and communication matter. In addition to training on the farm, we encourage team members to attend industry meetings, training programs and tours, including Calf Care Connection workshops offered by Professional Dairy Producers.

Seeing how other farms approach calf care gives our team opportunities to learn new techniques, compare practices and hear from other producers and experts. It can also reinforce the “why” behind the practices we are already doing.

Improving calf care doesn’t always require a major investment or sweeping changes. It can be as simple as refining a schedule, observing cleaning practices or taking time to explain a process again. Staying consistent and focusing on the fundamentals gives the youngest members of our herd the best start.

Patty Dolph farms with her husband, Chet, and in-laws, Pat and Don Dolph. Patty’s role is the manager of the milking operation, which includes the dairy herd, young stock and employees.