Calf Feeding

GENERAL RECOMMENDED FEEDING SCHEDULE FOR CALVES

Days Feed Milk Qty. / day Solid Feed Body Weight
CALF RATION (Approx.) KG
1st (First 30 COLOSTRUM As much as calf can take. NIL 30 - 35
Hrs.)

2nd to 20th Milk 3.5 L to 4.5 L NIL 40- 45 on

20th day

21st to 60th day Milk + Calf 4.5 L to 5.5 L 25 gms to 100 gms 65 – 70 on
Ration(Solid) per day 60th day

61st to 90th day Milk + Calf 4.0 L to 4.5 L 100 gms to 250 gms 85 – 90 on
Ration(Solid) per day 90th day

91st day Normal feed for NIL As per formulation

onwards Ruminents

Average milk fed is around 4 L per day for almost 90 days per calf
Calf Feeding

Calf’s ability to absorb antibodies declines

rapidly over the first 24 hours.
 Calf Feeding
GENERAL RECOMMENDED FEEDING SCHEDULE FOR CALVES
Days Feed Milk Qty. Solid Feed Body Weight
(Approx.) KG
2nd to 20th Milk 3.5 L to 4.5 L NIL 40- 45 on
20th day

• Weight of calf on 2nd day approx 30 to 35 Kg

• Body weight should grow @ 400 to 500 gms / day
• Only Milk to be fed as Calf Stomach is MONOGASTRIC and
cannot digest Urea.
• Milk Fed is about 10% of body weight
• By 20 days calf should be about 40 to 45 Kg
• Milk Feed increase from about 3 Lit / day to 4.5 L per day
within 20 days.
 Calf Feeding
GENERAL RECOMMENDED FEEDING SCHEDULE FOR CALVES
Days Feed Milk Qty. Solid Feed Body Weight
(Approx.) KG
21st to 60th day Milk + Calf 4.5 L to 5.5 L 25 gms to 100 gms 65 – 70 on
Ration(Solid) per day 60th day

• Weight of calf on 21st day approx 40 to 45 Kg

• Body weight should grow @ 400 to 500 gms / day
• Milk feeding should be reduced to about 8% of body weight
•Solid Feed ( special CALF RATION) should be introduced so
as to accelerate RUMEN development.
• Calf Ration should be 25 gm per day increased gradually to
100 gm per day within one month.
• By 60th day calf should be about 65 to 70 Kg
• Milk to be fed is about 3.5 L increasing ot 5.5 L
 Calf Feeding
GENERAL RECOMMENDED FEEDING SCHEDULE FOR CALVES
Days Feed Milk Qty. Solid Feed Body Weight
(Approx.) KG
61st to 90th day Milk + Calf 4.0 L to 4.5 L 100 gms to 250 gms 85 – 90 on
Ration(Solid) per day 90th day

• Weight of calf on 61st day approx 65 to 70 Kg

• Body weight should continue to grow @ 400 to 500 gms /
day
• Milk feeding should be reduced to about 5% of body weight
•Solid Feed ( special CALF RATION) should be increased
over next 15 days to 250 gms per day.
• By 90th day calf should be about 85 to 90 Kg
• Milk to be fed is about 3.5 L to 4.5 L
 What is calf milk replacer

Defination of calf milk replacer

 Basic composition of CMR
BASIC SPECIFICATIONS
PROTEIN Min – 20%
FAT Min – 15%
MOISTURE MAX – 7%
CRUDE FIBRE MAX – 5%
CARBOHYDRATES Min – 50%

VITAMIN ENRICHMENT – Each 1.0 Kg of Powder contains

Vitamin A 55000 I.U. Vitamin C 120 mg
Vitamin B1 16 mg Vitamin D3 4500 I.U.
Vitamin B2 10 mg Vitamin E 80 mg
Vitamin B6 8 mg Vitamin K 6 mg
Vitamin B12 40 mg Niacin 50 mg
Also enriched with
Iron Probiotics and Proteinated MICRO MINERALS e.g.
COPPER MANGANESE ZINC COBALT IODINE SELENIUM CHROMIUM
Vitamin & Mineral comparision with
milk

Defination of calf milk replacer

 RECOMMENDED FEEDING SCHEDULE CMR
CALCULATIONS
Milk/day CMR/day REMARKS
1st day 0 0 Colostrum feed - adlib
2nd to 7th day 4 0 Normal milk feeding to
be done
8th to 10th day 2 2 Replace one time milk
with CMR
11th to 15th day 1 3 Gradually replace 2nd
time milk with CMR
16th to 90th day
Defination
0
of calf milk4 replacer
Only CMR feeding to be
done
RECOMMENDATIONS
1 Changeover from milk to CMR should be done gradually.
2 Only POTABLE water should be used otherwise boil water and cool it down to 50°C
before mixing.
3 Minimum 3-4 Liters of additional water to be fed to calf per day.
 What is its comparison with milk

ASSUMPTIONS & CALCULATIONS

A1 1ST DAY ONLY COLOSTRUM IS FED – AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE
A2 TOTAL LIQUID FEED FOR FIRST 3 MONTHS IS AVERAGED OUT AT 4 L PER DAY
A3 RECONSTITUTED CALF MILK REPLACER WOULD COST ABOUT Rs. 12.50 PER LITER
CALCULATIONS
No. of Milk/day CMR/day Consumption
days (L) for period
1st day 1 0 0 0
2nd to 7th day 6 4 0 24
8th to 10th day 3 2 2 12
11th to 15th day 5 1 3 20
16th to 90th day 75 0 4 300
TOTAL 356
 Savings per calf in comparison with milk
9000

8000

7000

6000

5000 Only Milk

4000 MILK + CMR

Savings
3000 3049
2728
2407
2000 2086
1765
1444
1123
1000 802
481
0
14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22