Feeding the calf: diet and norms

To grow a quality healthy livestock, the farmer must comply with generally accepted standards for growing. Calves at birth are weak, so they need all the necessary components to get stronger. Important is the diet, which has all the necessary foods and vitamins. Proper feeding of the calf leads to its intensive growth and harmonious development. You just need to know how to competently make a diet.

The basis of nutrition

It should be borne in mind that due to the balanced feeding of cows during the dryness before calving healthy and strong calves are born. Especially important is the feeding of the monthly calves. Since animals from the appearance are sterile and susceptible to different viruses, bacteria, you need to take care of them properly. From the moment of birth in the body as a protection, gamma globulins appear.

Feeding the calf from birth is different from feeding cows. The first product that is given to an animal after calving should be colostrum. It has important for the baby vitamins - A and D, which are needed for proper growth and full development of newborns. Food should include foods that allow the animal to grow and grow.

Dairy

Within 3 days after calving, the calves are fed with new colostrum 6 times a day, then the calf needs to be weaned from the mother and 2 liters of milk are given in the dispensary 3 times a day until 20 days. Feeding the calf for up to a month involves the introduction of a return with milk, boiled concentrates and carrots.

Fattening of monthly animals involves the introduction of various feeds into the diet. With the strengthening of the gastrointestinal tract, the daily menu consists not only of milk, but also of silage. When it's 5 months old, 2 kg of concentrated fodder per day is introduced into the ration, and from 6 months, the portions are cut.

Milk substitutes

Important for the animal and other products. Substitutes of whole milk are useful. In their preparation, barley, peas, and wheat are used. Extruded grains include many useful ingredients. Using ZTsM helps protect the baby from diseases that can be transmitted from the cow after calving.

Vitamin mixtures saturate the body with the necessary ingredients, which are not fully in the mother's milk. From the moment of birth, calves are fed milk, with which the animal receives 9.5 kg of milk fat. This is very important for the heifers, who in the future will also need to reproduce the offspring.

When the calf has difficulties with digestion, the ZTsM is removed from its diet. But it will be useful decoction of flax, tea with glucose, broths of herbs. From the month you can safely give carrots, potatoes and other root crops.

Vitamins

The calf needs products that include natural vitamins, which is especially important in winter-spring time. Vitamin preparations are also used. The main cause of animal diseases is a lack of carotene, which occurs when feeding colostrum and milk. ₃ , Е), а также 30 г глюкозы и 0,5 г аскорбиновой кислоты. To prevent this from happening, in the first feeding, 5 drops of "Trivitamin" (A, D ₃ , E) should be added to the colostrum, as well as 30 g of glucose and 0.5 g of ascorbic acid.

To strengthen the body is suitable fish oil, fodder yeast and other vitamin complexes. It should be noted that the consumption of vitamins A and D ₃ is 300 and 50 IU per gram of animal weight. The norms of calves' feeding in the summer are much less in comparison with the cold period.

Now there are many biologically active additives that are sold in specialized stores. For example, "Kostovit forte" contains the necessary minerals and vitamins. An irreplaceable natural vitamin carotene is grated carrots, which are given to babies up to a month. Also it is necessary to remember about mineral top dressing, which consists of chalk with salt. To improve the metabolism of young animals, they need "Bacitrin" and "Grisin".

Cereal food

It is known that calf feeding with the help of grain concentrates is necessary to accelerate the development of the scar. Dry food is needed for normal operation of the digestive tract. Thanks to whole grain, corn, oats, chewing musculature is strengthened. Therefore, these products must be included in the diet regularly.

When the calf leaves the milking period, it is given oats, corn, soy flour, flax flour, corn dried bard. Wheat bran, fodder syrup is useful. Feeding calves should include muesli, which shorten the period of drinking young animals, as well as necessary for the assimilation of concentrates and coarse feed. They serve to prevent gastrointestinal diseases, improve health.

Drink

The period until the month when the young grows stronger is considered the most difficult for farmers. Drink colostrum baby should be about 6 times a day. It is important to avoid overfeeding. Animals after maternal feeding should be fed milk from a special nipple. Such a drink is useful if the necessary sanitary and hygienic rules are observed.

A few days later, the calf must be taught to drink from the bucket. To do this, put a bucket where milk is poured into which you need to dab a finger, and let the kid lick it. Then the muzzle of the animal must be inclined to the bucket. If the calf drinks milk quickly, then it should be given with some intervals.

Milk and colostrum should be given to animals in a pair. The smaller the interval between milking and drinking, the fewer microbes in the product. After drinking, the bucket should be washed with water, and then scalded with boiling water and treated with soda. When the calf was 3 days old, one hour before feeding, it was given chilled water. If there is adequate feeding of the calf, the farmer will grow a strong and healthy livestock of young animals.

Ration

Specialists recommend a special diet for feeding calves. It consists of colostrum, milk and post-milk periods. Colostrum should be given to newborn animals, as this product is enriched with vitamins. A day it is given in the amount of 1/5 of the weight. An hour after feeding, the baby is given water.

Useful hay infusion. After 10 days the calves are fed with hay, and from the 15th to the 20th day - concentrated and juicy fodder. The daily diet should include top-dressing from chalk, bone meal, salt. In the MZM, which is given after colostrum and reverse, a variety of different components are included.

There are special schemes for feeding young animals, given its purpose. Products should be given to an animal depending on its age, and then it will have good health. For the correct calculation of the daily diet, you need to take into account the data per 100 kg of weight. This allows you to ensure a balanced diet, which is necessary for good health.

Digestion

The amount of milk that must be given to the calf is regulated on the basis of excommunication from the mother. This allows you to reduce stress on the cow and reduce the risk of harm to the baby. Because of the consumption of the product from the nipple, the animals produce saliva. And this increases the production of enzymes necessary for high-quality digestion.

In a newborn calf, the stomach includes 4 departments, although in the beginning only one works - the abomasum. Liquid products pass into it through a tube obtained by closing the esophagus gutter. The reflex weakens due to the growth of the animal.

For 4 weeks, the best assimilable substance that comes with liquid foods is milk protein. They include vegetable, dairy, animal fats, sugars. Excellent absorption of mineral components and vitamins.

Zoohygiene

With birth, the calf needs to adapt to various external factors. For 2 weeks he needs to help to adapt. Respiratory tract, digestive system and umbilical cord are sensitive for some time after birth. Therefore, it is important to ensure zoohygiene.

The site of calving is considered the most dangerous, where the calf can go through an infection, so it should be well disinfected. For summer calving you can choose a lawn, and in winter - a room. The cattleman should be at the appearance of the baby, and also some time after this. Do not touch the calf unless the hands are treated with a disinfectant solution.

The animal must be transferred to a clean film. Purify it from mucus with a clean cloth. The umbilical cord is exposed to microorganisms, so it is treated with 5% iodine. Zoohygiene is also needed in feeding calves.

Care

The calf is not adapted to temperature changes and humidity. During this period, the thermoregulation is not yet working in the right way. Therefore, because of hypothermia and overheating, the resistance of the organism decreases. The animal is transferred to a dispensary, and in the cold it is dried with an infrared lamp. This room should have a comfortable temperature and humidity.

In the dispensary create an environment where the risk of penetration into the lungs of microorganisms is minimal. Due to the control of temperature and humidity, calves become sturdy. It is necessary to regularly check the calves for diseases, which will allow them to be detected and eliminated on time.

In animals with inappropriate care, there are many diseases. The reasons for this may be various factors. Often, the disease occurs due to stress, the penetration of bacteria and viruses. To prevent this, zoohygiene is observed. Often, animals will be prevented from entering the quarantine zone, which is accessible only to specialists who take the necessary measures to eliminate infections.

Thus, the cultivation of strong calves is the main problem of dairy cattle. Many of them die from diseases or inappropriate cultivation conditions. To the reasons for which there are ailments, include the wrong content, feeding, hygiene. Thanks to proper care and diet, it will be possible to grow healthy calves. If you follow all the rules, you will not have to use expensive drugs.