The Benefits Of Feeding Dairy Calves Milk Only Once A Day

The myth that calves are better off receiving milk twice daily was recently dispelled in a study by Animal Sciences master’s student Bertus Myburgh. He spoke to Glenneis Kriel.

- Glenneis Kriel

Research carried out at the Outeniqua Research Farm of the Western Cape Department of Agriculture has found that it is unnecessary to give young dairy calves milk twice a day. Once is enough, and in fact may even benefit the animals.

Bertus Myburgh, who conducted the study in partial fulfilment of his master’s degree in animal sciences at Nelson Mandela University, says dairy farmers in the Southern Cape region have traditionally given their calves milk twice a day, reasoning that giving calves too much milk at a time is bad for their digestive systems.

However, to save on labour costs, the Outeniqua Research Farm has been giving its calves milk once a day for years, and has found this to be an effective way to rear them. But when Myburgh tried to persuade dairy farmers in the region to do the same, they dismissed it as “not a good idea”.

Myburgh and his supervisor, Prof Robin Meeske of the Directorate of Animal Sciences at the Western Cape Department of Agriculture, therefore decided to conduct a controlled study on Jersey calves, comparing the oncea-day and twice-a-day regimes.

METHOD

Forty-eight Jersey heifer calves and 24 bull calves born at the experimental farm between September and December 2017 were used in the study. They were kept with their dams for the first three days of their lives to ensure they received enough colostrum, after which they were moved to hutches and divided into two groups.