The genetic potential of today’s Holstein heifer calves is enormous. They have the ability to grow efficiently, produce large amounts of milk, and remain productive for many years. But genetic potential alone does not guarantee performance. The real question is: how do we ensure this potential is fully realized?

Frustration is a common feeling among farmers when calves refuse to drink their milk. This issue can affect newborn calves with a missing suckling reflex, sick calves a few weeks old, or older calves that refuse to drink milk.

Can we prepare the young calf’s digestion tract for optimal vegetable digestion? Yes, we can stimulate enzyme adaptation in the digestive system of the calf by offering vegetable material at a young age. In this bulletin we zoom in on the digestion of protein and the stimulation of enzymes that split vegetable protein.

Clean, fresh and high-quality drinking water is essential for calves in the rearing period. Water is the basis for health and growth. There are major differences worldwide in the availability, quality and knowledge about water for young calves. This bulletin describes the ideal starting points regarding water.

This bulletin was written in response to a question about specic symptoms. In this case, young calves showed symptoms like brittle bones, weakness in the legs, difficulty standing up, stiffness, bent limbs, and even fractures. We immediately suspected this to be a case of a metabolic disorder called ‘’rickets’’. This condition occurs sporadic on farms. The problems can affect individual calves as well as whole groups of calves.