Extra Information

1. Bovatec "Plus 50%" About 95% of coccidiosis cases go undetected. Bovatec is used for coccidiosis control and we are upping its inclusion rate from the minimum recommended levels to the maximum recommended levels. Giving calves extra protection against coccidiosis especially those being reared on higher milk volumes.
2. Plus Xtract A natural product that improves digestive efficiency and promotes a healthy rumen microbial population. Made from essential oils and plant extracts, it is a safe effective non-antibiotic growth promoter. Works in a similar way to a prebiotic.
3. Plus Organic Selenium Selenium is necessary for growth and fertility, supports the immune system and is an antioxidant. Selenium in organic form reduces the potential for interaction with other minerals in the feed
   and improves the uptake by the young calf.
4. Plus Extra Soya Bean Oil Important energy source also increases uptake of fat soluble vitamins (A, D and E). We only use human food grade Soya Bean Oil. It is twice the price of recycled soya bean oil but is a more stable quality product.

ABOVE: Various diets such as Milk only, Milk and Hay and Milk and Grain, can effect the development of a calves rumen

Developing a healthy rumen is important to ease the transition from milk to solid feed at weaning.

A healthy rumen is dark in colour (due to the presence of lots of large blood vessels) and has increased rumen papillae (finger like structures on the rumen wall).

By increasing the blood vessels and surface area in the rumen you can maximise the nutrient absorption.

Resulting in more energy, improved health and better growth rate in your calves.

A grain based diet like Aoraki Calf meal is essential for good rumen development and healthy calves

A milk only diet encourages no rumen development at all. Grass and hay are bulky fibres that fill and stretch the rumen allowing slow development whereas grain, which produces butyrate and propionate when fermented, promotes the growth of a large number of long healthy rumen papillae that provide the large surface area required for nutrient absorption.

Calves should have access to quality grain based meal and fresh water from the first week. Milk fed calves may initially only lick at their meal but this is sufficient to give them a taste for it and begin the process of rumen development. The main drivers of meal intake are milk volume and meal palatability. A good meal needs to be both highly palatable and highly digestible. Aoraki calf feeds are energy rich formulations.

supplying energy in the form of both starch and vegetable oil. No palm kernel is used in Aoraki calf meals. Palm kernel does not have the correct nutritional composition for feeding young calves and is also unpalatable to them. Aoraki Stockfoods takes pride in formulating its calf meals from wholesome ingredients.

Once a calf is consuming meal, growth rate is determined by the limiting factor in the ration, which is typically energy. A growing calf requires both protein and fat to supply energy but fat is the most concentrated energy source supplying 2.5 times/kg more than whole grain. The high quality fat source in Aoraki Calf Meals encourages intake and supports growth.

Aoraki Calf Meals are fully balanced with optimum levels of minerals and vitamins for calf health and performance. The inclusion of the coccidiostat Bovatec has the dual benefit of controlling coccidiosis (providing calves are eating 100grams of calf meal per 10kg body weight per day) and stabilising rumen fermentation by shifting the balance of rumen bacteria from lactic acid producing species to species that actually utilise lactic acid in their growth.

This shift in population results in less butyrate and more of the key volatile fatty acid, propionic acid, which is the major substrate for glucose production in calves. More glucose = better energy balance, health and growth rate in calves.

Fermentation of feeds in the rumen produces volatile fatty acids (VFA). These acids cause dramatic changes in the size and activity of the rumen, and prepare the calf for weaning. Unless the calf consumes sufficient dry feed within the first few weeks of life, weaning will be delayed, or unsuccessful.

Rumen bacteria are responsible for fermentation of calf starter and grain to VFA in the rumen. To ferment substrate, these rumen bacteria must live in a water environment. Without sufficient water, bacteria cannot grow, and ruminal development is slowed.

Here's where this affects producers directly - most water that enters the rumen comes from free water intake. If water is offered to calves from an early age, this is not usually a problem; calves will drink enough water for the rumen bacteria and to quench their thirst.

Milk or milk replacer does not constitute "free water". When milk or milk replacer is fed to calves, it bypasses the rumen and reticulum by the action of the esophageal groove.

The esophageal groove is active in the calf until about 12 weeks of age. The groove closes in response to nervous stimulation, shunting milk past the reticulum and rumen and into the abomasum. Closure of the groove occurs whether calves are fed from buckets or bottles.

Therefore, the feeding of milk replacer should not be construed as providing "enough water". Calves need fresh, clean water from as early as 3 days of age.

The efficient system used to harvest the VFAs is the extensive covering of finger like papillae on the inner walls of the rumen. These provide a large surface area for the absorption of the VFAs and are associated with a copious network of blood vessels which allow for the rapid transport of the VFAs to the liver where they are used as an important energy source for the cow. However, at birth the rumen of the newborn is undeveloped and papillae present on the rumen surface are small and non-functional and the calf cannot digest high fibre feeds such as pasture, silages or hay. If we are to successfully meet the challenge of switching the young calf from high cost feeds such as milk to low cost feeds such as pasture, it is essential that the absorptive capacity of the rumen be established as soon as possible and definitely prior to weaning.

Extensive research has been carried out both within New Zealand and overseas in an effort to better understand the factors affecting rumen development and it is now well accepted that propionate and butyrate are the primary stimulus for the development of rumen papillae. Feeding a grain based dry feed, like Aoraki calf meal, provides the necessary material for rumen bugs to produce butyrate and propionate essential for the development of the rumen. Lucerne and grass silages, while a good source of feed for adult ruminants, don't provide the starch required for the production of butyrate and propionate by rumen microbes and consequently feeding roughages such as these to the young calf will result in slower rumen development. Likewise, palm kernel meal should not be used as or in feeds for young calves as it has a very low starch and is not very palatable.

High dry matter feeds (around 90% DM) like Aoraki calf meal have another advantage over grass and lucerne silage and pasture in the first few weeks of the calf's life. At this stage, the calf is growing rapidly and has a high energy demand, but due to its small size, it is unable to eat large volumes of feed. The capacity of the rumen of a calf at birth is only about ½ - 1½ litres! High dry matter grain based feeds provide considerably more energy per unit of volume, which means the calf can easily meet its nutrient requirements for growth. High moisture feeds like silages (35% DM) or pasture (15% DM) requires the calf to eat three to six times as much feed in order to meet their nutrient requirements. Young calves simply cannot eat enough of these types of feed to sustain good growth rates. As the calf grows, it's capacity for feed intake increases and it becomes easier for it to consume large volumes of low dry matter feeds like pasture.

Once the calves have been weaned, providing about 10% of the diet in the form of good quality hay can be beneficial as it helps to promote the development of the muscular layer of the rumen and helps to maintain the health of the rumen lining. The hay should be of good quality, palatable and should ideally be about 1 – 2 cm long.

When rearing your calves this season, make sure you select a good quality, palatable calf feed which will encourage good feed intakes, rapid early weight gains and which will allow for earlier weaning. The investment you make in your calves in the first few months of their lives will pay dividends in years to come.

1. Remember the basics, fresh water, meal and straw or low quality hay.
2. Weaning can occur when calves have put on a minimum of 20kg and are eating 1kg or more of meal per day. Usually between 5 and 6 weeks of age under once a day systems.
3. Milk causes no rumen development whatsoever as it by-passes the rumen and goes straight to the abomasum. Grass and hay only allow very slow rumen development. With calves that are fed meal the grain fermentation stimulates the development of rumen papillae, which enables the products of digestion to be absorbed.
4. Past surveys of dairy farmers show they use up to 14,000 litres of milk from the vat, as once they start on a milk volume rearing system they tend to carry it on (average herd size for survey was 332 cows).
5. Feeding penicillin milk kills off the good bacteria in the rumen causing slower calf development and also increases the risk of mastitis in heifers.  
6. Deaths from calves faced with a disease challenge in the first two weeks are likely to be higher in calves fed whey powder. But savings can be made if using whey powder after the first two weeks
7. Feeding calves 15% protein pre-weaning is false economy as trials show calves were 4.2kg lighter at 6 weeks and weaning was delayed a week.
8. Research also shows that calves grow at similar rates whether fed the same amount of milk replacer in one feed or two. The advantages in once a day feeding systems are reduced labour, less milk to be handled and calves start eating meal earlier allowing early weaning.
9. Once a day feeding systems can be used for whole milk systems.
10. Compartment feeders are critical for once a day feeding systems to work.