Our LifeStart research shows the impact of metabolic programming for calves, promoting healthy growth, unlocking their full genetic potential and improving future productivity.
How a calf develops in the first weeks of life is the most crucial determinant of a robust future. Trouw Nutrition’s LifeStart calf rearing programme ensures animals receive the highest level of nutrition from birth. Throughout this critical period, intensive nourishment ensures calves produce more milk with a reduced risk of culling during first lactations, and grow up healthy, strong and resilient to disease.
We are dedicated to helping dairy farmers raise cattle sustainably and maximise the daily production of every cow over its lifetime. Producing more milk with fewer cows, particularly young stock, is achievable by utilising the full potential of each animal. Good calf development:
Our scientifically based LifeStart programme has demonstrated to farmers that investing in intensive calf feeding at the start is essential for the success of their future dairy herd.
Not at all. Calves are similar to babies in their first week of life, with a developing digestive system and faeces that appear porridge-like. As the gut matures after two to three weeks, the faeces become firmer – a much more rapid process than in babies.
Most importantly, check the availability of water for your calves. They need four to five litres of water per kilogram of dry feed. If the supply of water is limited or failing, calf starter consumption will decrease. Make sure good quality water is in ample supply and freely available.
