A survey of dairy calf management practices in some producing regions in Brazil

Abstract

-This study aimed to characterize the Brazilian dairy calves raising systems through a survey of major aspects of animal husbandry. One hundred seventy-nine producers and/or technicians were interviewed. The questionnaire addressed issues related to the management of the dry cow and the newborn, nutritional management of the liquid-feeding phase, housing, and health management. A third of newborn calves stay with their mothers for more than 24 h after delivery, and only 56% of the calves receive colostrum within the first 8 h of life. Four out of ten producers allow the calf to suckle colostrum directly from the mother. Regarding the liquid diet, 44 and 35% of the farms provide marketable milk and discard milk for the calves, respectively. It was possible to identify several areas of improvement in the raising system; for instance, greater attention could be given to dry cows and the monitoring of births and to the establishment of adequate protocols to evaluate colostrum quality and feeding management.

Nutritional and microbiological quality of bovine colostrum samples in Brazil

“…Santos and Bittar (2015) characterized the production of calves in the same regions where colostrum was sampled and observed that in the majority of the small properties, dry and pregnant cows were raised without an adequate diet and in low-comfort and poor animal welfare conditions. These factors contribute to the differences, since feeding pregnant cows with restricted amount and poor-quality diets can compromise colostrum production (Weaver et al, 2000;Morin et al, 2001).…”

“…The fact is that these samples would probably be utilized to supply newborn calves when fresh cows do not produce colostrum in adequate quality, but mainly in volume, since there were no efforts to evaluate quality in these farms. Indeed, a survey conducted by Santos and Bittar (2015) at the same regions in Brazil, showed that 26% of the producers stored colostrum and only 7.4% of that measure quality using a colostrometer. However, other variables such as parity, breed, and colostrum collection time also contribute to these differences.…”

Evaluation of nutrition models to estimate performance of young dairy calves: a meta-analytical study under tropical conditions

“…These sources are most frequently used in American dairy farms (National Animal Health Monitoring Service, 2007). On the other hand, in Brazil the most part of calves were yet fed with whole saleable or non-saleable milk, with only 13% of the calves being fed commercial milk replacers (Santos and Bittar, 2015), often with low quality (vegetable protein sources) and nutritional values (low protein and fat). The typical milk replacers have lower energy than whole milk (milk: 5.29 Mcal metabolizable energy (ME)/kg solids v. milk replacer: 4.0 to 4.4 Mcal/kg) with 18% to 28% of protein, 15 to 20% fat, <10% ash and <0.15% crude fiber.…”

“…This survey was made from 242 small holder family farms in the South of Brazil. In a recent survey, Santos and Bittar (2015) reported that in three important milk production regions from Brazil, around 50% of the calves receive 4 l/day of liquid diet, but close to 25% are receiving 6 l/day. In this aspect, Khan et al (2011) described that conventional feeding practices (4 l/day or 0.5 kg of solids) resulted in calves being hungry with negative effects on growth, health, welfare and future milk production.…”

“…In the South of Brazil, 71% of 242 smallholder families reported that diarrhea was the main cause of calf mortality (Hotzel et al, 2014). Santos and Bittar (2015) reported that in three important milk production regions from Brazil almost 48% of all calves present diarrhea and that 22% have respiratory problems. Most of the problems are not only related to failure of passive transfer of immunity because of inadequate colostrum feeding, but also to inadequate housing conditions.…”