Keep Those Babies Warm! Calf Care in Cold Weather

By Julia Herman, DVM, MS

Beef Cattle Specialist Veterinarian, NCBA, a contractor to the Beef Checkoff

One of the most discussed subjects in the agricultural community (at least in my experience) revolves around the weather. This winter has already thrown some memorable temperatures at cattle producers. December brought record-breaking windchill to much of the country in addition to snow and ice. Extreme weather presents unique challenges for cattle caretakers and many of you were likely preparing for these events in the days or weeks prior to them occurring. Keeping cattle dry, out of the wind, and properly fed during the cold is an arduous task especially when you are also caring for your human team. Animal care and welfare are always top of mind for cattle operations, even more so during these extreme events.

While caring for adult cattle in this cold weather is one thing, caring for young calves has its own challenges. Due to their body size, young calves can be more susceptible to the effects of cold weather and maintaining a constant body temperature can be difficult. The thermoneutral zone (TNZ) is the temperature range at which an animal maintains its normal body temperature without needing extra energy. Many factors can influence the thermoneutral zone, including age of the animal, wind, moisture, hair coat length, sunlight, bedding and rumination. Newborn calves have a TNZ between 50-78°F while a calf that is a month old can have a TNZ between 32-78°F. Cold stress in calves can occur when temperatures stay below 50°F. When ambient temperatures fall outside of the TNZ ranges, the calves need to have extra energy to maintain their body temperature which can come from nutritional and environmental interventions.

Nutritional

Colostrum management is of utmost importance for a newborn calf as this will provide passive immunity and a highly nutritious meal for the calf to keep itself warm. Once calving season starts, it is important for calves to receive that colostrum in the first four hours of birth as it will protect the calf from infectious diseases through passive immunity in addition to providing nutrition for warmth. Work with your veterinarian to discuss what colostrum replacers verses supplement products are best for your operation for times when the dam’s colostrum is not available.

A general rule of thumb is that for every degree below the TNZ, the animal’s the cold (potentially wet) ground and help improve thermoregulation. Deep, clean and dry bedding should be provided regularly during cold weather.

Providing adequate shelter for your herd is especially important in cold weather. Windbreaks using trees, bales or equipment can be very useful. Bringing calves indoors or to a protected area can help them maintain their body temperature. Warming boxes, kitchen floors and living rooms have also proved to be a good source of warmth. Taking a tip from our partners in the dairy industry, calf blankets can be used for insulation. These are best used in younger calves that are not ruminating yet.

On a ranch visit recently, a creative strategy utilized straw bales stacked in a semicircle shape, with straw bedded on the ground. The area was fenced off by a taller wire of electric fence which allowed the calves to move freely in and out of the area when they needed to eat. The cows were prevented from entering the area which meant less contamination from the adults.

Animal Health and Biosecurity

As the Beef Checkoff-funded Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) program highlights, areas of care overlap with one another. Nutrition and environmental factors can positively or negatively impact animal health and immunity. It is important to remember that calves are susceptible to diseases due to a developing immune system in the first few months of life, even with quality colostrum and proper environmental management. Keeping calves separated by age (i.e., have groups of calves born within 14 days of each other) will decrease risk of scours and other disease spread.

Hygiene is extremely important for growing calves and especially with cold/wet weather. If you are using the same equipment for warming calves (blankets, barns, living rooms, anything), it is vital to clean and disinfect that equipment often so the new calves are not exposed to older animals’ illnesses. In addition, there are many zoonotic diseases that calves can carry that can infect humans (especially children or people with weakened immune systems), so be vigilant in cleaning areas where calves and humans overlap. When using bedding, fecal material can accumulate if the bedding area is not rotated, so cleaning out soiled bedding often will help decrease illness spread.

Caring for calves during cold weather takes some extra creativity and effort but will positively affect those calves in the short term and set them up for success in the long