Centerville, PA
Sweet Dreams
Did you know the welfare of a calf in its first 3 months has an impact on her success years later? Providing a dairy farm with calf hutches, large calf bottles and hay racks, Kinder Ground supported the farms’ transition to safer and comfortable housing for calves, encouraging adoption of social housing and improved feeding practices.
The Goal:
Improved Housing and Feeding
Funding provided: $3,835
The farms' original housing set-up was a patchwork of gates, fences and trailers, as the farm had grown from milking 25 cows to 50. This made everything from feeding, cleaning and caring for calves harder. One of the consequences was high morbidity (50%) and mortality (>20%) in the young calves.
Working with his dairy processor welfare specialist, the farmer developed a calf housing strategy that would help get calves off to a better start and be flexible enough to let them try and implement paired housing and feeding hay.
The Outcomes:
Starting on the right foot… hoof
Early experiences and nutrition for calves impacts their health and welfare today and into the future.
What Farmers Are Saying
“The new set-up works great! Calves look great, no calves have been sick which makes things even easier. The kids take care of feeding calves, and this makes it easier and safer for them too.”
- Adin, Dairy Farmer, Pennsylvania