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Golden Rules Of Heifer Rearing

John Moran, DPI Senior Dairy Extension Officer at Kyabram has written some great material on calf and heifer rearing, including setting and hitting targets for your heifer rearing this season.

By Department of Primary Industries - 30th March 2005 - Back to News

Targets

• The optimum pre-calving live weight of heifers varies with their target milk yield as mature cows. This can range from 500kg at 5000 L to 560kg at 7000 L.
• Target weights and wither heights for ages with Friesian heifers in well managed herds are:

• During their first lactation, well-reared heifers should produce at least 80% of the full lactation milk yield of their mature herd mates.
• Heavier heifers must be fed well to achieve their economic benefits. There is little point in growing out heavy heifers then underfeeding them as milkers.
• Heifers should be managed to grow at an average of 0.7 kg/day from weaning to first calving, although this can vary from 0.5 to 1.0 kg/day depending on seasonal conditions.

Feeding

• Provide a good quality diet for the first 12 months, containing 10-11 MJ/kg DM of energy and 12-16% protein.
• High-energy supplements are often required to achieve target growth rates of young heifers (up to 6 months of age), particularly during their first winter.
• Grazed pasture is generally the cheapest feed, but it must be in sufficient supply, at least 1500 to 1800kg DM/ha.
• If insufficient pasture is available, only feed top quality supplements, preferably concentrates.
• Any hay or silage feed must be of good quality, at least 10 MJ/kg DM of energy and 14% protein.
• Be wary of feeding too much low protein grain during the 3 to 9 months of age critical period, as excessive growth rates can lead to fatty udders.

Management

• If young stock are allowed to lose weight or grow very slowly for lengthy periods, they will not achieve their potential frame size.
• Low mating live weights can lead to calving difficulties 9 months later. Excessive feeding after mating can also result in dystocia. Dystocia (calving difficulties) reduces milk yield and increases days to conception.
• Use AI and quality Friesian semen on well grown heifers to provide replacement calves from first calf heifers.
• Heifers should be regularly weighed, at least every 3 months, with wither heights recorded at each weighing.

PETS, WORMS AND HUMAN DISEASE

Pets are a real pleasure, to young and old alike. The advantages of pet ownership outweigh the risks of contracting disease from them, provided that the risks are known and managed accordingly.

Visceral Larva migrans or toxacariasis is a disease of humans resulting from infection by larvae of the common roundworms of cats and dogs. Almost all untreated puppies are infected with roundworms, generally via infection from their mother before they were born.

Adult roundworms in puppies, kittens, dogs and cats live for about four months and can produce up to 200,000 eggs per day. Young puppies can be heavily infested. As dogs become older, the level of infection declines but viable larvae may persist in tissues for many years. Dogs and cats can also spread infection to their offspring through milk.

Roundworm eggs passed in the faeces of dogs and cats take about two to five weeks to become infective or embryonated and eggs can survive in the environment for years. People become infected by ingestion of infected or embryonated eggs. Contamination of soil surfaces with roundworm eggs can be high in areas where young dogs and cats are kept. Parks and sandpits can become heavily infected.

Visceral larva migrans usually presents in children aged 1-4 years with a history of eating dirt. Coughing, wheezing, fever, paleness and abdominal pain are common symptoms.

The risks of visceral larva migrans can be managed by regular and early anthelmintic "worm" treatment of young dogs and cats and elementary hygienic measures, including the collection and disposal of dog and cat faeces cats and covering children's sandpits when not in use.

GOOD NEIGHBOUR COOPERATIVE WILD DOG BAITING PROJECT

The Department of Primary Industries (DPI), in conjunction with the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) and Parks Victoria (PV) will commence the Good Neighbour Cooperative Wild Dog Baiting Project across Gippsland this month. Members of the community will again be assisting in the project.

Public meetings will be held at a number of locations throughout Gippsland. These meetings will provide general information on the baiting program and also provide an opportunity for the local community to be involved in the decision making and implementation of the program.

Meetings will be held in Dargo, Swifts Creek, Omeo, Bairnsdale, Buchan and Gelantipy.

The first meeting will be held in Dargo on Tuesday the 5^th April. The meeting will start at 7:30pm at the Dargo DSE office in Lind Avenue.

Vaughn Kingston, Wild Dog Program Coordinator for Gippsland said that each year over 60 landowners assist DPI, DSE, and PV staff to establish, maintain and monitor bait sites on Public Land and carry out strategic baiting on freehold land across areas of Gippsland impacted by wild dog activity.

"This level of cooperation shows strong commitment from Government and Gippsland residents; a commitment that has not diminished over time despite testing times experienced by the farming community."

Baiting with predator baits will commence on or about the week of the 11^th of April.

To minimise the opportunity of non-target bait take, baits will be buried in specially constructed bait stations. Poison signs will be prominently displayed in areas where baits have been laid.

For further information on the Good Neighbour Cooperative Wild Dog Baiting Project contact your local DPI Catchment Management Officer in Swifts Creek on (03) 51 595 100, Bairnsdale on (03) 51 520 600, or Orbost on (03) 51 611 222.

Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: news@gippsland.com

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