Dairies using beef sires for breeding has created a robust dairy-beef wet calf market. Just how well are these wet calves handling transport, commingling and their new feeding facility? Those that receive adequate passive transfer of colostrum are more likely to survive and thrive.
The USDA National Animal Health Monitoring System Dairy 2014 survey found that on average, bull calves left U.S. dairy farms at 7 days of age. In the survey, 93% of the reporting farms indicated bull calves received colostrum, but of those, 1.5% received colostrum only by suckling the dam. No operations…
