Two autumn calvers compare calf housing options

Block-calving dairy farmers need sufficient accommodation to house large number of calves in a short number of weeks, with their options ranging from temporary structures such as polytunnels to purpose-built permanent housing and conversions of existing facilities.

Each has its benefits and, if managed correctly, all can serve the purpose of rearing calves in comfortable and disease-free environments.

We visited two autumn-block herds with different systems.

See also: Buyers guide: 6 options for calf housing compared

The polytunnel calf accommodation

A switch to autumn block-calving from a year-round system and a scaling up of cow numbers prompted a rethink on calf housing at the Smith family’s Pembrokeshire dairy farm.

The Smiths had accommodated calves in 40 hutches throughout the year, but increasing cow numbers from 250 to 450 and calving these in a 12-week block meant hutch numbers would need to increase significantly.

They instead opted for two polytunnels, accommodating 14 pens with 15 calves in each pen.

Peter Smith, who farms at Pelcomb Farm, near Haverfordwest, with his brother, Mike, and their parents, says they researched the different options in depth before settling on polytunnels.

They based the design and layout on an example they saw online that was being used in New Zealand on a spring-calving unit. The polytunnel allowed calves outdoor access.

“We liked the idea that calves could choose which environment they wanted, whether that was inside or outside,” says Mr Smith.

About the build
The infrastructure was sourced from a UK supplier and the interior designed around that.

Only one polytunnel was built initially, measuring 51m by 7.3m, which cost £5,000 without the interior fittings. A second is now in place, the same length, but slightly wider at 8.2m. This cost £6,000.

The first polytunnel is now used as a feeding area. Calves have access to an open-air passageway bridging the two, and 7.3×3.6m lying areas in the second. Lying areas are bedded with 15cm of bark, topped with a 5cm layer of sawdust, providing a comfortable and absorbent surface.

There is a 3.6m-wide gap in between each polytunnel, running down their entire length.

Another £10,000 was spent on fitting the tunnels with hurdles and gates to create pens, and adding fans and milk feeders.

Nutrition and management
From the start of calving on 1 August, newborn calves are housed in dedicated pens until they have received four feeds of dam colostrum – 2.5-3.5 litres/feed.

Heifer and bulls are then split and housed in pens of 15, where they remain through to weaning at 10 weeks, to safeguard against disease.

“The tunnels are big enough for us to use each pen only once during calving. We have an all-in, all-out policy and we then disinfect,” says Mr Smith.

“They get a complete rest until we start calving again.”

Calf rearing is currently the responsibility of Harper Adams University student Rebecca Roberts, before she returns for the new term.

Milk replacer is fed after colostrum; each pen has a 200-litre drum that is filled with a cold mix of replacer and water and fed ad-lib through a milk warmer throughout the day. An average of 10 litres a calf a day is consumed up until weaning.

Benefits
The performance of the polytunnels is reflected by calf performance – an average daily liveweight gain (DLWG) of 0.8-1kg is achieved from birth to weaning.

“The only hiccup we had was an outbreak of cryptosporidium when we were using straw bedding, but we haven’t had any problems since we switched to bark and sawdust,” says Mr Smith.

The polytunnels come with a seven-year guarantee against sun degradation; Mr Smith calculates that when the plastic needs replacing, it will cost about £500 to cover each.

The low-cost, temporary nature of polytunnels was one of the reasons for choosing this method of housing, as the facilities are only used for part of the year, he adds.

“No one can tell you the exact shed that is going to work well for calves – every farm has its own experiences and it seemed to us that there was no one design that was perfect.”

However, Mr Smith feels the polytunnels are delivering a good performance and are very cost-effective.

The purpose-built calf-rearing shed

Calf mortality at a Welsh dairy farm is averaging just 0.5% from birth to six weeks since the business invested in a purpose-built calf-rearing shed.

The Evans family spent nearly £100,000 building and fitting out accommodation for their 350-cow autumn-calving system – it included a new build and the conversion of an adjacent storage shed.

The catalyst was a switch from a year-round calving system to block calving in the housed herd.

Calves had initially been housed in several sheds and makeshift accommodation, to cater for the numbers being reared in a condensed period.

That had implications for their health status, admits Gruffydd Evans, who farms with his parents, Wyn and Eleri, and his wife, Bethan, at Trefynys Farm, near Carmarthen.

They wanted a permanent solution and although the initial cost of the new build and conversion was much higher than some of the more temporary facilities they had considered, it was a one-off payment for an asset that will last for decades, says Mr Evans.

About the build
He designed the structure and the layout, and commissioned a local company, SJ Construction, to do the work.

The new-build steel-frame shed with metal box profile walls and a fibre cement roof covers 36.5×18.2m with the same materials used for the conversion, which covers 36x9m. Seven LED striplights and 10 LED spotlights are distributed throughout the building.

At capacity, it can hold 300 calves. The 3.6sq m pens each house nine calves bedded on sawdust, with milk fed from a teat bar twice a day.

There are three rows of 11 pens – one for pre-weaned calves and two for weaned and older calves. Ventilation is provided by two 30.5m windsocks.

The only change Mr Evans would make if he was building the shed now would be to reduce the height of the roof from 6.7m to the eaves to 4.8m – the same height as the roof in the conversion, to prevent it becoming too cold in the winter.

Next year, the family plan to add metal sheet to the walls between the rows of pens to protect younger calves from disease.

Passageways between the pens are 4.5m and 6m wide to allow a telehandler to manoeuvre easily into pens for cleaning.

Nutrition
Newborn calves receive two to three litres of colostrum, followed by six to seven litres of whole milk for up to three weeks. After that they receive a calf milk replacer (CMR) twice a day until weaning at 10-11 weeks, up to a maximum of 1kg CMR diluted in five litres of water at each feed.

Milk is distributed to each calf with a mobile milk trolley capable of holding 270 litres.