A new way of feeding dairy calves has delivered improved health and growth results at the Cannington campus Rodway Farm - Somerset.
George Jones, Velcourt farm manager explained, "We have been using Axcelera-C on our calf unit at the college for over 4 months (Since April 2017). We set up a trial at the college with 30 calves, where the only change in their diet was offering Axcelera-C in addition to their existing liquid milk (via a milk machine) and standard starter feed pellets.
Before the trial, I noticed how the calves were attracted to the high lactose Axcelera-C pellets - and I wanted to measure how our calves performed on the product.
Having offered it from day 4 in stainless steel feeding bowls to encourage earlier intakes, we then blended it with the starter feed from week 3 through to weaning.
Our findings are that the calves started eating the Axcelera-C much earlier than a starter feed, resulting in heavier weights at weaning and a measurable improvement in calf health and condition. Their coats are shinier since using Axcelera-C and I have noticed a reduced need for any medication, saving us money and maintain calf growth and momentum.
Now that the trial is over and having seen how calves respond to it, Axcelera-C now forms a part of the Rodway Farm calf protocol as it fits well with our existing system and is an easy way for us to deliver further gains in our calf performance."
