Andrew Rushton with son Brodie on their Rochester dairy farm.
Condensing the calving pattern has meant there is a lot more action over a short period of time for Rochester dairy farmers Jess and Andrew Rushton.
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And investing in a new calf shed has enabled the family to better cope with the influx.
The 280-cow Jersey herd is calved twice a year over autumn and spring, with a 50:50 split.
The 12m x 8m shed was built in 2022.
“Rather than drag out the calving period for 12 to 15 weeks like we used to, we now have an intense six-week period so we needed to update our facilities,” Andrew said.
“We wanted our new shed to have good air flow and provide the calves with protection from the elements.
“We get a lot of our bad weather from the north and west and it was important for the health of our calves to get that covered.
“We have to ensure there is adequate bedding (wood shavings) so it doesn’t get to cold on the concrete in winter.”
All newborn calves are taken to the shed and housed in individual pens where they are fed colostrum upon arrival.
Andrew Rushton particularly likes the fact the water and hay feeders are outside the pen.
Andrew recently purchased some Calf-Tel pens from Daviesway — a free-standing, modular indoor pen system that interlocks back-to-back and side-to-side.
The pen set-up ensures there is no physical contact between calves, which also helps prevent transmission of sickness through the shed.
The pens have a window that can be opened up at the back to help with airflow and Andrew particularly likes the fact the feed and water troughs sit outside the pen.
All individual pens are cleaned out before a new calf comes in.
Prior to the Calf-Tel investment, calves were housed in pens welded up by Andrew’s dad which served their purpose, but didn’t isolate the calves individually.
“I had been looking around for quite a while for other options and I had seen the Calf-Tel system working overseas,” Andrew said.
“After a bit of investigation I ordered a few pens in and I have been very happy with the results.”
Eventually the whole shed will contain the Calf-Tel pens and the old welded pens will be taken out.
The Rushtons also purchased a Daviesway milk taxi to help keep consistency in milk temperature. The taxi is pushed between the pens and means no more lifting heavy buckets.
The newborn calves are fed 1.5 to two litres of milk, twice a day.
After a couple of weeks they are moved across to the auto feeder where they remain until weaning.
The auto feeders are programmed to feed the calves five litres over a 24-hour period, but no more than 1.5 litres at a time.
A probiotic powder is also added to the milk.
All calves have access to fresh water, a grain mix and fresh cereal hay.
Andrew said investing in a good calf set-up to give the best possible start to the calves ensures the future of the herd.
“Our calving period is a lot more intense these days so we just need to make things as easy as we possibly can.”
The milk taxi avoids carting heavy milk buckets and helps keep the milk temperature consistent.
The Rushtons have a milking platform of 80ha, backed up by 130ha of dryland used for cropping and young stock.
They rely on genomic testing to identify what cows they wish to breed from; the bottom 10 per cent of the herd is always joined to beef.
Sexed semen is used on all animals joined in the first round, conventional semen for round two and then beef for anything else that returns for a third time.
Andrew AIs the cows morning and night over a nine-week period.
“We no longer use herd bulls so it is a busy time, but it works well for our system,” he said.
The Calf-Tel pens have been an excellent investment.
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