THE PHASES OF THE RAISING PROCESS
Under intensive systems, the stage called Calf Rearing lasts approximately up to 60 days (30-60 days) and has three important phases:
1. Pre-ruminant phase - in which the main food is in liquid form, such as milk or a milk replacement. During this phase, the abomasum or true stomach fulfills the main digestive functions.
2. Transition phase:...
It is a very good piece of information. In the context of developing countries, I would like to emphasis that the quality of dry fodder/hay fed to young calves is not all that good, primarily due to non-availability and lack of awareness about the importance of good quality legume hay. As a result, milk producers in these countries end up achieving a growth rate in the range of 500-600 g per day, prolonging the age at puberty. Under such situations, milk producers may continue to feed calf starters, maybe up to nine months of age, instead of six months, @ 2-3 kg per day. Another important aspect is birth weight of the calves in the developing countries which is low on account of inadequate feeding to animals in the advanced stage of pregnancy, which has direct impact on the growth rate during the pre and post weaning periods. I would like to reiterate that whatever I have mentioned above is in context of developing countries, including India, more so for indigenous cows and buffaloes.
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