Never Hungry, Never Alone:
Letting Calves Be Calves with Free Access Acidified-Milk Feeding
by: Collin McCarthy

Anyone who raises truly top-quality calves knows that the commitment of time is equal to the time necessary to maintain a healthy herd of cows. Have you ever jealously eyed a group of beef calves, out in the elements growing like weeds with virtually no veterinary expenses and minimal labor costs? Why is it such a challenge to raise dairy calves? After all, aside from some metabolic and dispositional proclivities, they are of the same species. A huge part of the answer lies in the fact that the beef calves have continual access to milk, as well as unlimited access to their herdmates, and therefore are under much less stress. Furthermore, they aren’t forced to consume a diet that they aren’t developed enough to utilize.

All other groups of animals on a dairy are managed under this mantra. Wet calves, on the other hand are slug fed twice, or three times per day and kept isolated in hutches or pens. It’s a perpetual cycle of stress that facilitates the need to keep them isolated for their own safety in the first place. Complimenting this contrarian feeding system is our suspension of adherence to the ever-important dogma of labor efficiency; whereas a large group of cows can be fed in minutes, a similar size group of wet calves require hours. It is for these reasons that Free Access Acidified-Milk Feeding systems should be of interest to those who are frustrated by contrarian calf-feeding systems and embarrassed by the apparent success of the beef calf.

Free Access
The free access acidified-milk feeding systems, where calves housed in group pens have 24-hour access to milk treated with formic acid or an acidified milk replacer, allowing for:
• Natural, productive suckling behaviors (not unproductive- suckling one another)
• Development of group social behaviors
• Dramatic changes in labor requirements
• Reduced stress-related illnesses, and therefore drug usage

Dr. Neil Anderson DVM, succinctly states that “Free-access feeding provides freedom from hunger- the best medicine for milk-fed calves”. An underappreciated casualty of the traditional hutch-based system is the calf unfortunate enough to be born large. Typically, the hunger in these calves is exacerbated by the fact that they are fed the same amount of milk as the small calf. Sure, they may eat more grain earlier, but without a well-developed rumen, much of it passes through, and you pay for the grain twice. With free access to milk, the nutritional needs of calves of all sizes are accommodated.

Formic Acid
Because of its ability to kill coliforms quickly, Dr. Anderson favors the use of formic acid to treat milk. The object of the acid treatment is to lower the ph of the milk (or milk replacer) to 4-4.5, where most bacteria and fungi will be killed and milk can be preserved at room temperature for several days. Along with a cooler temperature, the acid also serves to temper meal sizes, encouraging several smaller meals throughout the day. Frequent suckling sessions (an Ontario study averaged 7, 7-minute long, meals per day in dairy calves) in turn help moderate abomasal pH, resulting in fewer abomasal ulcers and reduced days with diarrhea.

Labor
Obviously, just as in all calf feeding systems, free-access feeding systems require a person with a keen eye and a passion for raising quality animals, and calm human interaction is still critical to the social development of young calves. They also require a paradigm shift where “normal-looking” calves are concerned. A calf who is not hungry will be less likely to rise and greet its caretaker with a lusty bawl; a sign of health in hutch-based systems. Therefore, careful attention must be paid to other indicators of health problems, just as we do with mature cows (isn’t a group of cows bellering for feed a sign of poor management?).
A striking result of one study performed in New York found that time spent per calf per day (on all calf-related chores) was reduced from 10 minutes per calf per day to 1 minute in group-housed calves opposed with hutch-raised calves.

Equipment
Like any technology, a producer can spend to his heart’s delight on a free-access feeding system, but it’s not necessary:
• Rotation of milk containers (size dependant on groups size and length of time)
• Nipples (one per 3 calves)
• Agitator
• Means of keeping milk from freezing
• Tubing

This article is meant as introduction to these feeding systems, and space prohibits a detailed discussion on feeding rates, acid-treatment rates, design specifics, grain feeding, and growth rate trial results, just to name a few topics. Hopefully, however, this overview will generate some interest in raising healthy calves in a low cost system, as well as fodder for future articles on the subject. I would love to hear from producers who have adopted this technology and hear their stories!
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