Sprayfo’s recommended
calf feeding schedule

Behind LifeStart is the philosophy is that a calf should be nurtured without limits – for optimal early life development and long-term performance.

Our recommendation is to feed calves twice-a-day or ad-lib.

For at least the first four weeks of a calf’s life, they should be fed milk twice-a-day or ad-lib. Research shows that this has metabolic, development and energy benefits for the calf.

We do not recommend once-a-day feeding.

The basic nutritional requirements for rearing calves are:

1. Colostrum	2. Milk	3. Water	4. Dry Matter (DM)
Always ensure each animal has adequate intake of high-quality colostrum in first 12 hours post birth (approx. 10% of its body weight).	Feed calves a minimum of 6L of milk (in 2-3 feeds) per day from day 4.	Make sure your calves have access to clean drinking water in the pens, always.	Feed a minimum of 800g DM per calf per day, increasing this to a minimum of 1,000g a day from around two weeks of age. We recommend offering meal to calves from week one, exposing them to solid feed intake early on.

Colostrum protocol for calves

Ensure calves get maternal colostrum of ≥23% Brix for the first 24 hours.

Ideally, 2-3L within the first 6 hours (10% body weight)
And at least 4-6L in the first 12 hours.
Feed colostrum warm (40˚C); 3 x 2L a day by bottle or teat bucket.
Ensure your feeding equipment and the colostrum is clean.
Switch from colostrum to Sprayfo Delta or Vitesse at day 3 or 4.

PLEASE NOTE:

Sprayfo Blue is a whey-based powder. We recommend feeding Sprayfo Blue to calves from week 4 only.

Feeding schedules on Sprayfo bags in New Zealand will differ from these recommendations. Bag labels indicate minimal feed requirements for once or twice a day feeding based on general NZ on-farm practices.

Sprayfo mixing ratios

Mix Sprayfo up to 1L e.g. to every 135g, add 865mL water.

The formulations of Sprayfo powders are designed to be fed at these ratios, so that higher volumes can be fed, ensuring optimal nutrient balance, digestion and animal health.

Sprayfo mixing instructions

Always follow feeding instructions
Heat all required water to 40-42°C OR, for ad-lib systems, use cold water
Start stirring water, then slowly add milk replacer powder, mixing for 30-60 seconds until all clumps disappear*

* Sprayfo mixes very easily in warm or cold water, be careful of overmixing.

Why feed calves 8-10L milk per day?

This ensures sufficient nutrient and energy uptake:

unlocking optimal genetic potential
promoting udder development
improving fertility
extending lifetime productivity
supporting immunity
and driving increased weight gains.

Calves are born with 3% body fat. They will require high planes of nutrition to build fat reserves.

Early organ and physiological development in your calves will improve their future utilisation of feed and help them grow into more resilient animals.

Tips for weaning calves

Weaning can start when calves are consistently consuming 2Kg of concentrates per day (for multiple consecutive days) and have achieved sufficient growth targets.

Calves should be both healthy and well developed before you consider weaning them off milk. For less-developed calves, consider extending milk feeding for another 1-2 weeks.

Avoid stressful procedures such as debudding and regrouping at time of weaning.

Slowly reduce volume of milk replacer consumed over 1-3 week period. Slow and gradual weaning allows the calf to successfully adapt from a liquid to solid diet.