UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Getting Calves Off To A Good Start Is The First Step In Producing Healthy, Well-grown Replacement Animals That Are Ready To Enter The Milking Herd At 22 To 24 Months Of Age, According To An Extension Dairy Expert In Penn State's College Of Agricultural Sciences.

To meet this goal, says Jud Heinrichs, professor of dairy and animal science, employees must provide consistent, quality care for calves, particularly during the pre-weaning period.

Penn State researchers have developed a program to help employees responsible for calf care. The CalfTrack calf-management training system includes standard operating procedures (SOPs) for many calf care tasks, an orientation video, a health scoring system and a detailed reference manual. In addition, most materials are available in both English and Spanish.

"The SOPs are presented as 'Chore Plans' -- step-by-step instructions with many photos and illustrations to clearly explain each concept," says Heinrichs. "These SOPs can be used to train new employees or as a reference for experienced personnel. The health scoring system not only teaches employees how to observe animals, it also provides a recorded health history and offers a simple system of evaluating performance."

Topics covered by CalfTrack include newborn calf management, colostrum management, feeding calves liquids and grains, cleaning and sanitation, evaluating calf environments, normal appearance and behavior, and routine health treatments.

"The complete CalfTrack system is designed to help employees master daily calf-raising chores with confidence, independence and a sense of accomplishment, while raising healthy dairy calves that can become productive and profitable herd replacements," says Heinrichs. "It was specifically designed for farms that have multiple employees taking care of calves."

The CalfTrack program was developed by Heinrichs and Coleen Jones, research associate in dairy and animal science, in partnership with Elanco Animal Health and Land O' Lakes Animal Milk Products. CalfTrack may be obtained by contacting Curt Larson of LOL Printing Services at 515-573-1710 or by e-mail at ajh@psu.edu.

Jeff Mulhollem Office 814-863-2719 FAX 814-863-9877