DairyCo
Welcome to DairyCo
Research & Development
- Breeding & Genetics
- Environment
- Health & Welfare
- Grass & Forage
- Nutrition
- Production Systems
- Completed Projects
- Across breed evaluations
- All weather cow tracks
- Calving Ease
- Crop Protection Priorities for forage and feed crops in light of proposed EU pesticide regulations and other changes
- DairyCo mobility score
- Desktop review of Greenhouse Gases
- Expanding Indices
- GR Micro test for ParaTB (08/09)
- Human resources templates
- Impact of bio-fuels on dairy feeding
- Labour efficiency report
- Labour productivity
- LINK Woodchip pads
- LISA Lupins
- Minimising slurry pooling in dairy housing
- Modelling of Greenhouse Gases
- Muck and Slurry on Clover swards
- Muscling on Holsteins
- Near Infra-Red Spectroscopy (NIRS) tests for farmyard manures
- Opportunites for new forage species
- Outwintering systems based on forage brassicas for replacement dairy heifers
- Para TB Tools
- Rearing options for Holstein bull calves to 12 weeks
- Reduce methane & nitrogen emission (Defra AC0209)
- Reducing heifer wastage in the dairy herd
- Reducing lameness in dairy cattle
- Ruminant nutrition regimes to reduce methane and nitrogen emissions
- Soil stabilisation
- Technology and your business
- Treatment and prevention of foot lameness in cattle
- Advisory Groups
- Research and Development Advisory Forum
- Forum Members
Rearing options for Holstein bull calves to 12 12 weeks
Published 8 September 09
This report examines the options for farmers in relation to Holstein bull calves. allowing them to determine whether a calf rearing system would benefit their business. The main objectives of the project were:
- to review information and data on the current practice in the UK and overseas for rearing Holstein bull calves to 12 weeks
- to summarise the evidence for health and welfare impacts, cost effectiveness and labour requirements for each rearing system identified and to examine the evidence for the impacts of rearing systems on carcass quality
- to summarise the evidenvce for the environmental impacts of rearing Holstein bull calves for the UK beef market and the potential impacts on climate change taking into account the LCA studies of Cranfield and Manchester Universities.
- to summarise current and forthcoming legislation appertaining to rearing Holstein bull calves for the UK beef market, in particular as this relate to animal welfare
- to summarise what was known about the attitude of processors to handling Holstein bulls and the potential markets for Holstein bull beef with regard to carcass conformation and meat quality
- to provide a detailed economic analysis of rearing sytems, including a spreadsheet-based decision support system for use by dairy and beef producers
Project completed: February 2008