Reducing the sustained pneumonia impacts on calf’s lungs and promoting growth pre-weaning using a newly developed calf shed

A high proportion of calves (30 to 40%) will have pneumonia, which leads to lung damage that can have lifelong impacts with reduced performance as a calf but also in later life (growth, milk production). Ensuring optimum environmental conditions (ventilation, temperature/humidity) is essential. A specifically designed calf shed was developed with the purpose of ameliorating calf early-life, easily constructed and incorporated automatic fabric curtains and positive pressure tube, pushing fresh air at calf level (Cost Effective Ventilated Environment for Calves: CEVEC). This study compared two rearing systems on the same commercial dairy farm, CEVEC and individual hutches using the following data: veterinary treatment records, lung scanning scores and growth rates. Calves’ lungs were ultrasound scanned twice, around 2-3 weeks of age and then close to weaning at 8-10 weeks of age. Calves were weighed on these occasions (Ritchie, UK) and the average daily gain (ADG) was calculated based on these two measures. All animals were fed 7.2L milk per day (150g/L, Britmilk Calf Gold; Britmilk, UK), twice a day in the hutches and by automatic feeder in CEVEC (CalfExpert, Holm & Laue, DE). A total of 158 calves were recorded throughout the study, with 56 animals in the hutches and 102 in CEVEC. There was no significant difference in the calves’ ages at scanning (p-value >0.05, Table 1) or their first scan weight (p-value >0.05, Table 1). A tendency for CEVEC-reared calves to be heavier was observed at the second scan (p-value=0.054) and they had a significantly greater ADG (0.81 kg/d vs 0.69 kg/d, p-value <0.001, Table 1). The average first lung score was similar between groups (p-values >0.05, Table 1), whilst the average second lung score was significantly lower in CEVEC-reared calves compared to hutch calves (p-value <0.001, Table 1). This translated into a greater difference between scores (p-values <0.01, Table 1). In terms of veterinary treatments, CEVEC-reared calves were treated more overall (Table 1). CEVEC appeared to provide a better calf rearing environment as calves had lower levels of lung damage and a greater ADG compared to hutch-reared calves. The automatic feeder alerts facilitated disease detection and treatment.