Calf Rearing 100 Hours Certificate Course

There are 7 Lessons

1. Calving and Culling

• Introduction
• Research into raising dairy calves
• Principles of good calf rearing
• Pre-calving management
• Managing the cow for a healthy calf
• Colostrum management
• Calf selection
• Estimated Breeding Value (EBV)
• Culling
• Assessing calves for suitability in a rearing system

2. Calving Management

• The birth of a calf
• Signs that the birth is close
• Stages in a normal birth
• Calving problems
• Important points
• Abnormal presentations
• The calf at birth
• Colostrum
• Stress and pathogen exposure
• Managing stress
• Managing pathogen exposure
• The calf digestive tract
• Rumen development
• Bacteria
• Liquid in the rumen
• Outflows of rumen materials
• Absorptive qualities
• Substrate (Dry feed Intake)

3. Calf Health Management

• Overview
• Common calf diseases
• Scours
• Coccidiosis
• Round Worm Scours
• Lung worm
• Calf diphtheria
• Pneumonia
• Clostridial Disease
• salmonella
• Navel and joint ill
• Stress and the young calf
• Transport stress
• Feeding stress
• Heat and cold

4. Calf Rearing Systems

• Birth to weaning
• Natural Systems of Calf Rearing
• Single suckling
• Multiple suckling
• Foster suckling
• Race suckling
• Early weaning
• Artificial systems of calf rearing
• Teaching the calf to drink
• A basic Feeding program
• Milk Substitute
• Common calf rearing systems
• Rearing calves at grass
• Five and a half day system
• Once a day system
• Cold milk system
• Acidified milk replacer
• Mildly acidic milk replacer
• Strongly acidic milk replacer
• Milk-fed veal production

5. Calf Housing

• Ventilation
• Isolation
• Comfort
• Economy
• Calf Pens
• Metal crates
• The calf hutch

5. Weaning

• Stress at weaning
• General weaning transition strategies
• Providing water
• Weaning at twelve and eight weeks
• Weaning at five weeks
• Weaning at four weeks

7. Post-weaning

• Post weaning period
• Calf husbandry practices
• Reducing surgical stress
• Cattle identification
• Castration
• Bloodless castration
• Surgical Castration
• Dehorning
• When to dehorn
• Dehorning instruments and equipment
• Tetanus
• Vaccination and Worming

Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.