A healthy calf grows into a productive cow or a heavy bull. A calf that is sick early grows slowly for life. The first hours and weeks matter most, and the same rules apply to kids and lambs.

The first hours

  • Clear mucus from the nose and mouth so the calf can breathe.
  • Dip the navel in strong iodine solution soon after birth, and again the next day.
  • Make sure the calf drinks colostrum (first milk) within 2 hours of birth.
  • Give about 10% of its body weight in colostrum in the first feed: around 3 litres for a 30 kg calf. Give a second feed within 12 hours.

Colostrum carries the antibodies that protect a calf until its own immune system works. A calf can only absorb them in the first day of life, and the sooner the better.

Housing

  • Keep calves in a clean, dry, well-ventilated pen with dry bedding.
  • Protect them from rain, cold winds and strong sun.
  • Separate pens help stop disease spreading between calves.

Feeding

  • Feed milk at about 10% of body weight a day, split into two feeds, or allow the calf to suckle.
  • Offer clean water from the first week.
  • Offer calf starter (concentrate) and good hay from the second week to grow the rumen.
  • Wean gradually once the calf eats about 1 kg of starter a day, usually at 8 to 12 weeks.

Scours (diarrhoea)

Scours is the biggest killer of young calves. Watch for watery droppings, sunken eyes and weakness. Give oral rehydration salts between milk feeds and keep feeding milk. Call a vet if the calf cannot stand, stops drinking or has blood in its droppings.

Other care

  • Tag and record every calf at birth.
  • Vaccinate and deworm on your vet’s advice.
  • Dehorn young, at 2 to 4 weeks, using pain relief from a vet.
  • Watch for coughing and fast breathing, which can mean pneumonia.

The single most important thing you can do for a newborn is make sure it drinks enough colostrum, early.

This guide is general information. It is not a substitute for advice from a vet who has examined your animals.