E610 1.38 vs 0.90: The Calf Number That Predicts Your Worst Heifers
About this episode
The episode discusses the impact of calf growth rates on heifer performance and management strategies in dairy farming.
Your average calf will lie to you. Your bottom tier won't. One farm's poorest calves gained 1.38 lb/day on one program and 0.90 on another — same barn, same week. That gap is the week-six stall, and most farms never put a number on it. The Bullvine Podcast breaks down a 39-calf comparison of two commercial calf programs: 1.73 vs 1.39 lb/day overall, 2.07 vs 1.31 in the late pre-weaning phase. A 0.34 lb/day edge projects to roughly 205 to 440 pounds more first-lactation milk per heifer — before you buy new genetics or a new barn. What you'll learn: Why the week-six handoff, not the calf, stalls your growth curve How the stall gets set in the first 24 hours through colostrum Why starter intake — not milk — builds the rumen for weaning What 0.34 lb/day is worth at $21/cwt across 100 replacements The four blunt questions that expose your own weaning plan Why intake-plus-age beats weaning by the calendar Why this matters: Heifer raising is the second-largest expense on most U.S. dairies at $2.65 to $3.15 a day, and a stalled calf bills you twice — a softer first lactation plus extra rearing days before she calves. Read your bottom tier, not your average, and the fix costs management…
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