Feeding custom-enriched transition milk to newborn calves in their first 10 days has helped a Pembrokeshire dairy farm slash mortality rates pre-weaning by almost two-thirds.

Will and Alex Prichard calve 500 cows in a spring block at Escalwen, near Letterston, and also run two 200-cow autumn calving herds.

“Over my entire farming career, one of the most depressing things I have experienced is when calf rearing goes wrong and when mortality and sickness in calves becomes almost insurmountable,’’ said Mr Prichard.

In 2023 the Prichards and their calf rearer, Tom Phillips, embarked on a new feeding programme guided by veterinary consultant Ryan Davies.

They invested in two pasteurisers, part funded by the Welsh Government Small Grants - Efficiency scheme, feeding cow transition milk enriched with whole bovine powdered colostrum.

Transition milk is produced by the cow from the second milking after calving, up to the sixth, and has elevated levels of milk solids, antibodies, vitamins and minerals, growth factors and natural antimicrobial proteins.

But the quality of transition milk is highly variable. If calves don’t receive sufficient antibodies, they are more likely to die, suffer from diarrhoea or respiratory issues, and require treatment with antibiotics.

Taking blood samples from calves and using IgG as a biomarker to standardise transition milk is one solution and this is what the Prichards did, supported by the Farming Connect ‘Try Out’ Fund, an initiative that funds individuals and groups of farmers and growers to experiment with ideas and bring them to life. 

“It is important that calves aren’t fed any antibiotic residues because they inhibit the growth of the normal healthy gut microbiome,’’ said Dr Davies.

The milk was fed to calves up until day 10, resulting in a significant improvement in calf health and a major reduction in mortalities.

Although feeding transition milk comes with some additional cost, from labour and equipment for its collection through to storage and heating, Mr Prichard said the improvements had completely changed the mood on the farm during the calving period.

Pasteurising the milk was a “game changer’’, he added, to reduce disease risks such as Johne’s and bovine TB.