A comparison of rearing systems for dairy beef calves

Abstract

A demonstration of the performance and cost of artificial calf rearing systems was undertaken using 4-day-old Friesian bulls. Three commercial calf rearing systems (recommended by calf feed manufacturers) were compared with a cheaper variation which involved substituting a proportion of meal with pasture. The same calf milk replacer and meal was used in all four systems, so that this was a comparison of rearing systems, not of products. System 1 was a conventional twice-aday milk feeding regime for 6 weeks, with access to pasture from 4 weeks of age and restricted meal fed to 12 weeks. System 2 involved twicea- day milk feeding for 10 days, followed by once-a-day milk feeding for a further 50 days together with restricted meal and access to pasture from 4 weeks. System 3 involved once-a-day milk feeding for 5 weeks and ad libitum meal feeding before being allowed access to pasture at 10 weeks of age. System 4 was similar to System 3 but instead of ad libitum meal, calves were allowed access to pasture from 4 weeks and fed restricted meal. Feed input costs ranged from $83 per calf in System 4 to $127 per calf in Systems 2 and 3. At 12 weeks, average calf liveweights ranged from 98 kg for calves reared using System 1 to 110 kg for calves reared using System 3. There were significant differences in 12-week liveweight (P