2022 Fall & Winter Calf & Heifer Special Edition

Calf & Heifer& Special Edition Edition

The solution that brought youngstock home

Group housing makes efcient use of Kuechles’ time, resources

By Jennifer Coyne Contributing Writer

EDEN VALLEY, Minn. – Five years ago, the Kuechle family transitioned from having their youngstock custom raised to caring for their animals all on site. In the time since, they have only looked to the future of their dairy operation.

“There are still areas of the facility we could improve on, but I was looking for a change and this has been the solution for that change,” Brenda Kuechle said.

Kuechle and her siblings – Perry, Rhonda and Becky Haag – milk 250 cows in Stearns County near Eden Valley. The family showcased their relatively new youngstock barns as part of a farm tour series for Minnesota Dairy Initiative July 7.

In 2017, the Kuechles built a naturally-ventilated

calf barn for animals 2 weeks of age through weaning which begins at 8 weeks. They also constructed a monoslope facility for weaned calves up to 5.5 months old.

Previously, Kuechle was a practicing veterinarian, and the heifers were raised off the farm until breeding age.

“I was looking to be more involved on the farm, and we were also looking to raise the calves ourselves,” Kuechle said.

The calf facility provides up to 60-square-feet per calf in one of six pens that are 16 feet by 27 feet. The barn also includes positive pressure tube ventilation and a tiled drain system under the straw bedding.

“The tiling helps keep moisture out of the pen,” Kuechle said. “We also buy top quality straw that is easy to spread and keeps the pens dry.”

of

Every few weeks, the entire barn is cleaned, which often falls in line with when the Kuechles move cattle from the pre-weaned to weaned pens.

Youngstock in the weaned barn are housed in groups up 14, allowing 60 to 65 square feet per calf in every pen. It also includes a drainage tile and a 10-foot scraping lane.

Pens are bedded with corn stalk bales.

JENNIFER COYNE/DAIRY STAR

Brenda Kuechle talks about her farm’s youngstock facili es July 7 near Eden Valley, Minnesota. The Kuechles milk 250 cows and built a naturally ven lated calf barn for animals 2 weeks

age through weaning in 2017.

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The peak of the building stands at 12 feet.

“That’s the only thing I wish was different,” Kuechle said. “Now knowing, I would’ve built it at 14-feet high for better ventilation.”

Kuechle estimated that building the facilities and managing the youngstock on site is saving the farm $100,000 per year.

Calves, both heifers and bulls, receive one feeding of colostrum at birth and then are relocated to individual hutches for the rst 2 to 4 weeks of life. During that time, calves are given two 7-pint feedings each day of pasteurized milk fortied with milk replacer for a solid content of more than 13%.

Then, the youngstock are moved in groups of seven to eight into the

group housing where they are mob fed up to 10 pints of fortied pasteurized milk, until the point of weaning, twice daily.

“We knew we wanted to go with group housing because the calves were getting too big for the hutches,” Kuechle said. “But, we don’t ever have enough calves in a group to justify automatic feeders for our farm.”

The mob feeder includes 10 teats. Kuechle hangs the portable unit on the fourth rail of the pen gate.

Kuechle said she likes the feeding system to observe each calf at the same time. She can quickly spot which calves are not thriving and may need attention, and easily sees how well the calves do on the system.

“When we rst started mob feeding, we fed as much as they wanted,”

Kuechle said. “We’re now seeing bigger, better calves, and it’s taken a month off their breeding age.”

The pasteurized milk also seems to be a good t for the mob feeding system.

“It’s a lot of milk twice a day, and the pasteurized milk versus all milk replacer seems to help with any bloating issues that may show up,” Kuechle said.

Calves drink slowly from the mob feeder, and the feeder remains on the gate for 15 minutes after each feeding, which reduces sucking in the pen. Competition at the feeder is also nearly eliminated because of this management technique.

“There’s always a boss calf, but

Published by Star Publications LLC

JENNIFER COYNE/DAIRY STAR

Calves at the Kuechle farm are penned in groups of seven to eight, two to four weeks a er birth. The Kuechles no ced the calves were ge ng too big for the hutches, and their solu on was group housing.

Kuechle said.

All animals are fed grain beginning when they rst enter the group pens.

“When they rst come into the pen, they’re hardly eating anything,” Kuechle said. “At the end of weaning, they’re eating 7-8 pounds per calf per day. We go through a 50-pound bag in each pen.”

As the calves are relocated, the Kuechles clean out the barns and sanitize the pens before bringing in new animals.

Since raising their calves on site, the Kuechles have maintained a 1% death loss yet struggle with Mycoplasma bovis in the group settings.

BRENDA KUECHLE, DAIRY FARMER

“It’s highly contagious, and so in that regard, raising the calves individually would be better,” Kuechle said.

At 8 weeks of age, the animals are weaned from milk. The Kuechles wean two pens of calves at a time and then move the youngstock to the monoslope barn one to three weeks later.

Youngstock remain in the monoslope barn up until 5.5 months.

Despite the challenges group housing presents, it is a setup that has worked well for Kuechle Dairy, for both the family members and livestock.

“We were looking for a setup that allowed us to raise our own calves,” Kuechle said. “This is what allows us to do that.”

JENNIFER COYNE/DAIRY STAR

Calves rest together July 7 at the Kuechle farm near Eden Valley, Minnesota. Calves are weaned at 8 weeks of age and moved to a monoslope building one to three weeks later.

“We were looking for a setup that allowed us to raise our own calves. This is what allows us to do that.”

Managing healthy calves

Cleanliness at core of Dolph Dairy’s program

By Stacey Smart stacey.s@dairystar.com

LAKE MILLS, Wis.

– When it comes to raising calves, Patty Dolph likes to go above and beyond the basics to give her future cows the best possible start in life. A focus on feeding quality colostrum, following a robust vaccination schedule, and keeping things sparkling clean helps Dolph Dairy run a successful calf rearing program.

“We try to do the little things to make these animals produce when they get to the milking barn,” Patty said.

Dolph Dairy LLC is owned by Don and Pat Dolph and their son, Chet, and his wife, Patty. The Dolphs milk around 500 cows and farm 1,000 acres near Lake Mills. Helping the Dolphs are 13 employees –two of which are full-time calf feeders. High school help also lls in caring for the calves. Letting no detail slip, Patty and her crew take a hands-on approach to raising calves.

“Clean, clean, clean –that’s what we focus on,” Patty said.

Chet agreed. “We want dry, healthy, comfortable calves,” he said. “That’s how we achieve our success. Colostrum quality is also a big factor.”

The Dolphs see the value in getting the particulars right to ensure calves reach their full potential. A calf is rarely lost at Dolph Dairy, where the mortality rate is less than 1%.

“We have healthy calves, and 97% make it to the milking string,” Patty said.

High priority is placed on each calf well before she is born, which is why the Dolphs faithfully follow vaccine protocols for dry cows as well as calves to ensure long-term health. Dry cows receive one dose of ScourGuard 4KC, and springing heifers and rst-lactation animals get two doses. Cows also receive two doses of EndoVac – once at dryoff and again three to four weeks later.

Calves are given Inforce 3 within a few hours of birth and then again at weaning – a nasal vaccine that protects against respiratory illnesses. At birth, heifer calves also receive TriShield oral vaccine for ghting rotavirus and E.coli. At

around 5 months of age, the Dolphs vaccinate calves with Bovi-Shield.

Calves are fed pasteurized colostrum within one hour of birth. They receive 4 quarts for their rst meal and anoth-

er 2 quarts of colostrum 4-6 hours later. If a calf is born in the freestall area, it is given 2 quarts of colostrum at least once a day for the rst ve days.

“We do this to ensure

these high-risk calves obtain more antibodies,” Patty said. “Emphasizing quality colostrum during the rst feeding is so important, especially for

STACEY SMART/DAIRY STAR Pa y Dolph heads up calf care at Dolph Dairy where they milk 500 cows and farm 1,000 acres near Lake Mills, Wisconsin. The Dolphs’ calf care protocol involves feeding quality colostrum, following a robust vaccina on schedule and keeping things clean.

The goal is to feed heifer calves colostrum that scores 28 or higher on the Brix refractometer. The Dolphs said they believe in handling colostrum with the utmost care, and in 2014, they began pasteurizing colostrum before feeding it to calves.

“We’re trying to be as clean as we can; therefore, we have a strict program for handling colostrum,” Chet said. “It must be kept clean and pasteurized or cooled immediately.”

Frozen bottles of water are placed into pails of colostrum upon collection. Acting like a big ice cube, the bottle keeps the milk cold until Patty can tend to it.

“This helps keeps microbes at bay,” she said.

Newborns are moved to a drying room featuring in-oor heat that is located steps from the maternity pack. Its convenient location helps employees follow protocols in caring for newborn calves. In winter, new arrivals spend 12 to 16 hours in this room before moving to individual outdoor hutches. The farm has 80 hutches that are typically 80%-90% full at any given time.

“Calves don’t get moved until they are dry and spunky,” Patty said. “We bed the hutches with lots of straw, especially in the winter, and we bed almost daily. When it’s really cold, we put jackets on the young ones.”

After their rst two feedings of colostrum, calves are

fed pasteurized waste milk using a step-up approach. Fed twice a day, calves receive 2 quarts of milk morning and night for the rst ve days. Calves also receive a probiotic powder during this time at a dose of one tablespoon per calf per bottle.

“The probiotic contains lactobacillus to keep calves going,” Patty said. “We don’t have a fridge where we feed calves, so this works great because it’s shelf stable. We started feeding probiotics last summer and are having good luck with it.”

For the next three to four days, calves are given 3 quarts

of milk at each feeding before receiving 4 quarts morning and night for the next 50-55 days. If a calf has scours, the Dolphs feed plenty of electrolytes. If a calf is down and out from scours, they feed Diaque, a nutritional supplement that provides energy and electrolytes to keep calves hydrated.

Any calf with leftover milk is bottle fed and sometimes given electrolytes for an added boost. The Dolphs also add a whole milk fortier to the milk for all calves to control coccidiosis and serve as a larvicide in the summer.

“This seems to help a little when calves encounter

scours,” Chet said. “It helps keep them going. The fortier is also helpful in summer when ies are bad.”

Heifers are given water and grain from day one. For the rst 40 days, they receive an 18% protein molasses grain. After 40 days, grain is mixed with a 22% protein grower grain before moving to a diet containing solely grower grain.

Calves are weaned at 62 to 70 days of age. Prior to weaning, milk is cut back from 4 quarts at each feeding down to 2 quarts for three or four days, followed by skipping the night feeding for a few days before cutting off milk completely.

“We keep calves on milk longer than most people, but it helps,” Chet said. “It’s not the cheapest way to raise calves, but we like the results.”

In 2014, the family built a calf milkhouse for cleaning, loading and storing calf supplies. The pasteurizers are located here along with a dishwasher, milk buckets, grain and other supplies. The Dolphs are rm believers in consistency, and whiteboards contain instructions and notes to keep everyone on the same page regarding calf care.

The dairy uses a ribbon system on hutches to identify certain types of calves. Blue ribbons signify newborn calves up to 5 days old; orange ribbons are given to calves 12 days old or under; and pink ribbons denote a sick calf or a calf needing extra attention. The ribbons are placed on the hutch panel for quick identication from a distance. Calf feeders wear gloves when feeding calves, and every row of hutches gets handled with a new pair while every pink ribbon calf is taken care of with separate gloves.

“Calves are kind of like kids in a day care, and we don’t want to spread anything,” Patty said.

An emphasis on cleanliness is a part of daily calf care at Dolph Dairy. Buckets and bottles undergo a three-step cleaning process after each

STACEY SMART/DAIRY STAR

Once weaned, calves move from hutches to group housing at Dolph Dairy near Lake Mills, Wisconsin. The heifers reside on a bedding pack un l 6 months of age where they are introduced to a total mixed ra on and also fed grower grain. Turn to

feeding. First, they are washed in hot, soapy water and then washed a second time in a restaurant-style dishwasher followed by sanitization with chlorine dioxide. All equipment used to distribute milk is also sanitized with chlorine dioxide. In addition, hutches and panels are cleaned and sanitized thoroughly between each calf.

Once weaned, calves move from hutches to group housing. They reside on a bedding pack and are introduced to a total mixed ration and also fed grower grain. At 6 months, heifers are moved to a freestall barn. At breeding age, heifers on the dairy weigh 800 to 900 pounds.

“We don’t farm anything out,” Patty said. “We would rather do it ourselves. We breed at 13 months, and our heifers are ready to go. They’re nice and big and calve in by themselves. We don’t

pull many calves, and that translates to more milk.”

Cows are milked three times a day at Dolph Dairy to achieve a rolling herd average of 32,000 pounds of milk with 4.1% fat and 3.1% protein. Cows average 102 pounds of milk per cow per day.

“We also try to do the best we can with milk quality and are running around 80,000 for somatic cell count,” Patty said.

Patty is on par with current industry practices in calf raising, and the Dolphs also send their employees to workshops to learn the latest strategies for raising healthy calves.

“We spoil our calves,” Patty said. “They have to live outside, so we want to give them the best possible care.”

STACEY SMART/DAIRY STAR

Felix Sarmiento feeds colostrum to a newborn calf within an hour of birth Oct. 25. Calves receive 4 quarts of pasteurized colostrum for their rst meal and another 2 quarts 4-6 hours later.

Commissioned

WWW .C ALFAND H EIFER . ORG

artwork by Bonnie

Raising future producers

Schauers have cow potential in mind as heifer growers

By Grace Jeurissen grace.j@star-pub.com

GLENCOE, Minn. –

Once the calf hits the ground, the race is on. For the Schauer family, raising youngstock for other farms makes them an inuential part of achieving a cow’s genetic potential.

“My job is to get those heifers gaining what they need and bred for their transition into the barn as a producer,” Tim Schauer said.

Schauer and his wife, Dawn, and their children, Taylor, Adam and Owen, raise replacement heifers on their farm near Glencoe. The Schauers have been raising replacements since 1996 while they were milking 70 cows. In 2017, they dispersed their miking herd and honed in on their heifer raising enterprise.

For Schauer, this was a way to stay connected to the industry and not have to worry about uctuating milk prices.

“It was a good lifestyle change for our family ,” he said. “There is a need for heifer raisers, and I had a unique opportunity to cash in on certain crops with this side of the

business.”

Schauer works with a nutritionist to balance a ration that achieves a daily rate of gain of 1.5-1.8 pounds. The ration is comprised of corn silage, haylage, reed canary grass, dried distillers grains, heifer mineral mix and ground corn (just in winter). The reed canary grass is harvested off of peat ground that prior to the heifer raising entity was occasionally used to harvest grass bales off of. Being low ground of a previous lake, makes it prime for growing lush nutritious naturally growing grass that makes a great forage for a heifer ration.

“This reed canary grass is instrumental to our feeding program,” Schauer said. “The goal with it was to give these heifers the ll and large body capacity in their rumen to get them eating heavy when they calve in on the farms, which in turn will help them produce more milk.”

Turn to SCHAUER | Page 12

GRACE JEURISSEN/DAIRY STAR

Owen Schauer (le ) and Tim Schauer stand near their breeding heifer lot Oct. 21 at their farm near Glencoe, Minnesota. Tim Schauer has been raising heifers since 1996.

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The Schauers receive calves when they are around 300 pounds. The calves are housed at one end of a monoslope building and transition through four groups as they grow. Once the heifers are 800-900 pounds, they are moved

to a different shed for breeding. The monoslope opens to the south to help protect from north winds in the winter, and the sun can shine into the bedding packs during the day.

GRACE JEURISSEN/DAIRY STAR

Heifers eat a total mixed ra on Oct. 21 at the Schauer farm near Glencoe, Minnesota. The Schauers u lize reed canary grass in their ra ons to promote a healthy rumen and expand body capacity in the heifers they custom raise.

“I have been really satised with the monoslope building,” Schauer said. “We can come out during the winter and every one of the heifers is laying on the bedding pack in the sunshine cozy as can be.”

After being conrmed pregnant, the heifers are moved to a dry lot.

Schauer uses a heifer management and billing software to monitor the heifers.

“Using HeiferPRO, I can keep track of who needs to be bred when, and I can print off sheets for a group to look through while checking pens,” Schauer said.

Once the heifers reach 14-15 months, Schauer uses natural heat detection to determine which heifers to breed. The farmers tend to enjoy not having the calves all at one time. He works with the heifer’s owners to decide which bulls to use for breeding, then does all of the A.I. himself.

“It’s just as simple to do heat detection naturally for me because I’m walking and driving back and forth past the breeding pen all day,” Schauer said.

Schauer works diligently as a heifer raiser to keep his pens clean and the heifers growing at the right pace. He mixes four different TMR rations each

day. Though cleaning pens can be variable with Minnesota weather, Schauer cleans and beds his lots once a week. When the weather is wet he cleans twice.

By the time the heifers leave his farm at two months prefreshening, Schauer has done everything from feeding to breeding which alleviates the respective farms’ need for additional facilities and labor.

“What I’m doing is taking the place of say one or two additional people at their farms,” Schauer said. “So instead of hiring more people on their farm, they pay me to feed, breed and grow their next generation.”

Schauer’s keen eye for cattle came when he took over his family farm in 1995. He wanted the heifers coming into his milking herd to be stronger producers with added body capacity. His solution was the reed canary grass he continues to use in the ration today.

“I saw that something needed to change on my own farm, and I worked to solve the problem,” Schauer said. “Now I can be a solution to the farms I work with by helping raise their next high producer.”

GRACE JEURISSEN/DAIRY STAR

Owen Schauer uses a skid loader to push up feed to the breeding pen of heifers Oct. 21 on his family’s farm in Glencoe, Minnesota. The Schauers use natural heat detec on and do the A.I. themselves.

“I saw that something needed to change on my own farm, and I worked to solve the problem. Now I can be a solution to the farms I work with by helping raise their next high producer.”

TIM SCHAUER, DAIRY FARMER

Celebrating their best calves

Ciolkosz Dairy completes rst year in new barn

By Danielle Nauman danielle.n@dairystar.com

THORP, Wis. – Bill and Bridget Ciolkosz consider their calves to be a pretty important piece in the puzzle that makes up the future success of their dairy farm. That value led the Ciolkoszes to consider if there were ways they could make improvements in how they raise their calves.

“We had always raised our calves in hutches,” Bill said. “It is a great way to raise calves, … but it takes a special kind of person to do a great job raising calves in hutches, particularly in bad weather.”

The Ciolkoszes were concerned their calves were not getting the full attention they required during the winter months.

“Doing calf chores in the bad weather was sometimes just a matter of putting your head down and getting things done,” Bridget said. … “There are so many variables, and for a good part of the year, we were feeding calves in the dark.”

Time spent with eyes on the calves was not the only concern for the Ciolkoszes.

“When we weaned, calves were moved from the hutches into group pens in a barn,” Bill said. “There was just too much changing for them at one time, and it really threw them for a loop. They stagnated. They would just sit still for nearly a month.”

After spending time assessing their situation, the Ciolkoszes came to a logical conclusion for their farm: It was time to build a calf barn.

The Ciolkoszes, of Thorp, milk 180 cows on their Clark County dairy farm in central Wisconsin, and at any given time, they have 25 to 35 calves on milk or in the weaning phase.

After researching the new facility, the Ciolkoszes gathered advice for design and, in particular, ventilation.

“Airow and quality were our biggest concerns,” Bill said. “If we were going to put the money into building something, we wanted to build the best we could. The better we can take care of our calves, the better they will be as cows.”

After looking at automatic calf feeders, the Ciolkoszes decided that was not the route for them.

“I wasn’t a fan of the large groups,” Bill said. “I needed something to match a dairy our size. We aren’t big enough for all in, all out; I needed something that could revolve.”

Besides the calves, Bill said he was thinking about his children and help who take care of the calves.

“I wanted something that would be a pleasant working

environment for them,” he said. With the goal to limit the stressors placed on their calves,

DANIELLE NAUMAN/DAIRY STAR

Bridget and Bill Ciolkosz milk 180 cows on their Clark County dairy farm near Thorp, Wisconsin. Last fall, the Ciolkoszes built a calf barn to replace hutches.

the Ciolkoszes moved forward with building a barn that would accommodate up to 40 calves from birth to weaning.

Calves are housed individually for the rst month. After that rst month, three panels separating four pens are removed, placing the calves in social groups of four where they remain for the next month. When the panels are removed, each pen has access to heated waterers. At 2 months of age, the weaning process is started.

The barn was ventilated using a ap-duct system, with the air being exchanged at least four times every hour. The barn has curtain sidewalls that are regulated on a thermostat. Pens are built about 36 inches away from the sidewalls with a catwalk elevated 18 inches behind the pens.

Bill designed many of the xtures for the pens himself and worked with his brother-in-law to complete the projects. The Ciolkoszes also chose to put bird netting throughout the barn to control birds.

“They seem to take weaning a lot better in the social groups,” Bill said. “There is a lot less bellering than there was out in the hutches.”

The calves remain in social grouping in the calf barn for another two weeks after weaning before being moved to the weaned calf barn where two groups of four are put together.

“They just never slow down like they did,” Bridget said. “They stay on the same grain and hay, and with the

DANIELLE NAUMAN/DAIRY STAR

same calves. Weaning has really become stress-free for them.”

The new barn was completed in the late fall of 2021.

As they were preparing to move calves into the facility, the Ciolkoszes decided to ramp up their feeding program as well. They invested in a 40-gallon Milk Taxi to feed pasteurized milk to their calves.

“When they were in the hutches, we fed raw, whole milk,” Bridget said. “With the Milk Taxi, I can pasteurize the milk and feed it at consistent temperatures of 104 degrees in the summer and 109 degrees in the winter. It has removed all the variables.”

In the calf barn, the Ciolkoszes use numbered buckets to ensure each calf uses the same pail throughout the entire time it is on milk to help reduce any risk

of cross-contamination.

The rst calves raised in the calf barn are now 1-year-olds, and thus far, the Ciolkoszes are impressed with the improvements they are seeing over the calves they raised in hutches.

“Our heifers are bigger, heavier and taller than past groups have been,” Bill said. “I am really looking forward to seeing them calve in as 2-year-olds. I have some great expectations for them.”

Both Bill and Bridget are eager to share their experiences with other smaller- to moderate-sized dairymen.

“I had always thought that our farm wasn’t big enough to build a suitable calf barn,” Bill said. “I am glad that I proved myself wrong. That is what is great about this barn; it works for smaller dairies, and it can be modied to t whatever size is needed.”

DANIELLE NAUMAN/DAIRY STAR

Calves at Ciolkosz Dairy are raised individually for the rst month before being transi oned into social groups of four. A er making the switch to group housing, the calves seem less stressed at weaning.

“We installed our posts and 5 wire fencing in spring for our cattle receiving/training pen. Post and fencing were easy and quick to install & fiberglass is long lasting. We want to keep our farm natural looking so this product works well for us and the cattle.”

Morris and Debra Weyers, Bethany, MO

“We decided to install freestalls from TJ’s Fencing after a friend recommended them. They were easy to install and the cows really like them. We only have about half of the stalls converted right now, but are eager to get the rest of our stalls converted to freestalls from TJ’s Fencing.“

- Bernard County Dairy, Richard Decker Installed in February 2020

“These gates are very simple to take apart, like calf huts, only bigger. We put 1-3 calves in a pen, which gets them accustomed to group housing. Ventilation is better for the calves having an open pen.We are very happy with our investment in the gates.”

Top Deck Holsteins-Westgate, IA, Jason, Derek, Justin Decker

“We have been supplying Glasfiber boxes for 10 years. Every customer is satisfied with this product and will definitely choose the glass fiber freestall again in the future. It is also a good fit for renovation projects. In addition, we also offer glass fiber fencing. The glass fiber is an excellent alternative to the iron barn equipment.”

Bertha Swaving,

Holland, Netherlands

“We built our new ABS Global Calf Facility in the summer of 2016. This was the first time we utilized anything except steel at one of our facilities and it was a hard sell to the staff. However, after meeting with Travis at TJ’s Fencing in Harpers Ferry, and having him bring a gate home to show the staff, we were sold. We utilize more than 200 different sizes of gates, all purchased from TJ’s Fencing and installed by Cliff’s Incorporated from Friesland, Wis. The gating is holding up very well. We intend to expand our calf facility this summer and will definitely continue utilizing TJ’s Fencing for the gating.”

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Jim Meronek, Health Assurance, Production and Supply Chain Director ABS Global, Inc., DeForest, WI

purchased fences from TJ’s twice. My original fences were purchased 20 years ago and they have held up well. I enjoy not having to paint them. Recently, I purchased fences with rounded corners. These have been very sturdy and the ends cannot pop out of place. Both types of fences are very flexible and safe for my horses.”

“I

- John Bengfort, Bluff Country Equine, Winona, MN

Jeff Kintzle Peosta, IA

FIBERGLASS POSTS & RAIL

have