When young, we call it a calf. It’s mother is called a dam and the father called a sire. A female calf is called a heifer when it has not yet given birth to a calf of its own and is less than thirty months old. The heifer will be called a springer when it becomes seven months pregnant and its udder starts to swell. The process of giving birth to its calf is called calving or parturition. Upon giving birth to a calf, the female dairy animal will be rightfully called a cow.
After calving or parturition, the new calf is separated from its dam within 24 hours of birth. This early separation will help ease the stress on the cow and calf as there will be no bonding between parent and offspring. For the dam, there will be little anxiety in losing its calf. For the calf, it will be easier to teach it to drink milk from a bucket. The calf also has to be moved to a clean and nearly sterile environment to help keep it away from disease and sickness.
The newborn calf should drink it’s mothers first milk, called colostrum, which is rich in antibodies to protect it from infection. Within twelve hours of birth, the calf should be given around two liters of colostrum. The calf has no immunity of its own for the first two weeks so drinking colostrum is absolutely necessary. The colostrum changes into milk (fit for commercial use) within three to four days after calving. The calf will then depend on commercial milk replacer feed until it is old enough to eat solid food at three to four weeks of age. Continue reading
