Calf Club Diary. Paste your Calf s Photo Here. Name. Age. Address. School. My Calf s Name. Breed. Birth Date. My Calf is a Heifer / Bull

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1 Paste your Calf s Photo Here My Calf Club Diary Name Age Address School My Calf s Name Breed Birth Date My Calf is a Heifer / Bull My Calf was Born at My Calf s Ear Tag Number is

2 My Calf s Vet & Treatment Diary 1st 5 in 1 Vaccination Date Vaccine Name 2nd 5 in 1 Vaccination Date Vaccine Name 5 in 1 vaccines protect against clostridial diseases such as tetanus, pulpy kidney, black leg, black disease & malignant odema that can cause sudden death. Tetanus - A bacteria that lives in the soil and infects lambs and calves through open wounds. Pulpy Kidney - Often caused by a sudden increase or change in nutrition. Black Disease - This bacteria lives in the soil and is picked up by the lamb or calf by eating the pasture. The bacteria produces toxins in the liver. Black disease can be associated with a liver fluke infestation. Black Leg - This bacteria also lives in the soil. It enters the blood stream and lodges most commonly in the leg muscle, the growth of the bacteria in the muscle leads to poisoning. Malignant Odema - A rapidly fatal wound infection. Dehorning Date 1st Drench Date Drench Name Calves are drenched so they don t get round worms. Round worms are parasites that live in the calf s intestines. These worms damage the intestinal lining and can give calves diarrhoea. Worms can also live in the calf s lungs, these worms can make calves cough. Talk to your VetEnt vet about when to drench and what to use. Draw a picture of your calf here

3 Watch Out For Calf Diseases Most calves are very healthy and never get sick, but there are some diseases that can effect them. Clostridial Diseases (clos-trid-i-al) These diseases are caused by various kinds of bacteria in the soil. The bacteria are eaten accidentally by calves and if the calves haven t been vaccinated the bacteria can grow and produce toxins. The Tetanus toxin causes paralysis, and the blackleg toxin causes muscle damage and blood poisoning. These diseases are very fast acting and calves can die suddenly. Navel Infections When a calf is born the navel (cord connecting the calf to the cow) is wet and open, bacteria from the ground/environment can easily get inside the calf via the navel. Newborn calves should have their navels sprayed with an iodine/alcohol mix daily until dried up to help prevent infection. Infection in the navel is called navel ill, check your calf s navel by giving it a gentle squeeze while your calf is feeding. If it is hot, painful, swollen or if your calf is not wanting to drink, has droopy ears or is sad it may have a navel ill. Get it checked by a vet, it may need antibiotics to fix this before it gets worse. Scours There are many reasons your calf can get scours or diarrhoea. One common reason is drinking too much milk. They can also get infections from licking and chewing dirty things and from other calves. The most important thing to do is give them lots of fluids so they don t get dehydrated. Come and talk to one of our friendly vets at your VetEnt clinic and we can get you sorted with some electrolytes (fluids with the right salts and sugars), and a regime for giving this to them. If your calf is due for a feed and it s not hungry, it is always a good idea to ask somebody to check it over, get your parents to call the VetEnt clinic. Not wanting to drink is the 1st sign of sickness. For Emergencies and Calf Supplies Contact Te Awamutu 49 Benson Rd Ph Otorohanga 18 Tuhoro St Ph Te Kuiti 6 Seddon St Ph King Country Turaki St Ph Turangi 7 Tautahanga Rd Ph Gisborne 281 Gladstone Rd Ph Wairoa 46 Freyberg St Ph

4 Your Calf s Feeding Diary Your calf needs to be fed milk regularly, before you go to school and again when you come home from school. You can tell when your calf is full as his or her tummy will look round and full and they won t be calling out for more milk. Mix up the milk so they get 10% of their bodyweight each day, for example a 40kg calf needs 4 litres of milk each day, this is best given in 2 x 2L feeds/day. Remember that they will be growing so you will need to increase the milk they get fed as they grow bigger. At 2-3 weeks of age you only need to feed your calf once a day with a larger amount of milk. From 1 week old you can start feeding your calf meal and hay as well as milk to keep them looking good for calf club, you will need a large flat bottomed feeding bucken/bin for them to eat from and make sure you keep the grain and hay fresh and clean. It is also really important to make sure your calf has access to fresh water all day and night. Date Calf age Number of feeds per day What is your calf eating? How much are you feeding your calf?

5 Your Calf s Training Diary You will need to train your calf to walk forward beside you, to turn, and to stop to get ready for calf club day. Leading When teaching it to lead you can either pull and tug, or you can get Mum or Dad to help you tie a long soft rope into a big loop to fit around your calf s bottom and under its tail, with the lead coming over its back and through the loop on the halter. Now, when you pull the lead, the rope will come up under the calf s tail and it will move forward. As it moves forward, the pressure under its tail stops, and so it learns to move forward. When it is happy leading you can take the bottom rope off. Position Lead your calf on its left hand side so you can hold the lead with your right hand, with the rest of the lead in your left hand. You need to lead your calf from beside its head rather than having your calf behind you. Make sure you never wrap the lead around your hand as this could be very dangerous if it trys to run away. Turning When you are teaching your calf to turn try to stay infront of its shoulder so you don t trip over each other s legs, then push your calf s head in the new direction so it knows where it is going. Stopping When you want to stop your calf gently pull on the lead rope and remember to practice standing still as well. Tying Up Use a long, soft looped rope, but do not tie the other end to a post just wrap the end of the rope around a post and keep hold of it (get Mum and Dad to help you). The calf may pull back, but the rope will come up under its tail and it should walk forward. When it does, give it lots of pats, release the rope and go for a walk. Repeat this each day a little bit, until the calf does not pull back. You can then tie the calf, with the proper lead rope, to the post. In the early days of tying up, don t walk away from the calf as it will just try to follow you. Instead use this time as grooming time, spending time brushing its head, body and legs, and talking to it. Keep it Fun Remember to keep training fun, praise and pat your calf lots when it does things right and keep training short so you both don t get tired and bored.

6 Your Calf s Training Diary Week 1 - What my calf has been doing: Week 2 - What my calf has been doing: What have you called your calf? Make sure it has an ear tag. Before your calf gets home, make sure you have a safe paddock, clean water, fresh grass, milk and a milk feeder. Your calf may also need to get dehorned by VetEnt check if it has wee little horns on top of its head. Is your calf feeding well? Start fitting a halter and teaching it to lead for a short time after school each day. Make sure you pat it lots and brush it so it becomes your friend. Week 3 - What my calf has been doing: Can your calf lead and tie up yet? It s a good idea to get a cover for your calf so its coat looks good for calf club day, check its halter isn t too tight now it has grown - you can get these from the VetEnt clinic. Week 4 - What my calf has been doing: Are you leading your calf everyday and walking in different patterns? Can you stand still with your calf? Get Mum & Dad to come and pat your calf and pretend to be the judge at calf club day for you to practice. Week 5 - What my calf has been doing: Are you getting pretty good at leading now? Make sure you remember to get some shampoo for washing your calf for calf club day. Week 6 - What my calf has been doing: Week 7 - What my calf has been doing: Week 8 - What my calf has been doing:

7 Watch Out For Poisonous Plants Rhododendrons Common garden plants with leathery green long leaves and large flowers in spring. Rhododendrons can grow into big bushes, animals like eating their leaves but get badly upset tummies (vomiting and diarrhea) and can die. Daphne Small shrubs with shiny bright green leaves and clusters of very sweet smelling pink or white flowers. Tutu A native bush with very shiny dark green leaves that grows on bush edges and sometimes on road sides. Every part of this plant (stems, berries, leaves) is VERY poisonous. Oleander Another garden plant with leathery dark green leaves and very pretty pink flowers. It grows into a large bush, you often see oleander planted in gardens at the beach. Animals that eat oleander die soon afterwards. Nightshade There are a few species of nightshade. These weeds are related to potatoes and look similar, they have bright orange or red berries which are very poisonous. The best idea to keep your calf safe from eating poisonous plants is to make sure it can only eat grass in its paddock, make sure there are no other plants or bushes in there it can chew on, and don t let it loose in Mum s garden. Bailing Twine & Sileage Wrap Remember to also keep bailing twine, silage wrap and other rubbish away from your calf, if you see any in your calf s paddock fence or lying around where your calf can chew it remove it immediately and throw it in the rubbish as this can choke your calf. Tree, Hedge & Grass Clippings Make sure that your calf s paddock has none of these in it and don t feed these to them, they are not good for them and may make your calf sick.