To complement the different phases of the calf dietary requirements, we advise the use of a Queen of Calves Starter from birth to week three. 

Yes. STARTER can be used with colostrum that has been put aside for calf feed. STARTER can also be mixed with wholemilk. 

Transition to Queen of Calves Finisher at week three to weaning. 

The calves appear more contented, they don’t bellow, users say they are healthier than normal, and thriving, they develop bigger and longer bone structure, they wean earlier, there’s less-check, if any, at weaning. Farmers initially report having more contented animals that are happier in behaviour, manner, and attitude, and, their animals are healthier with less recorded sickness. Over time farmers are able to identify from their on-farm data that the cows have produced above-average production and increased survivability in the herd. 

On average 1 kilogram bigger liveweight gain per week than normal, and it is common for treated calves to achieve weaning weights up to 3 weeks faster than normal. 

22 years ago Bell-Booth developed an alternative calf nutrition system, showing that by adding selected plants to milk, it slowed the milk’s transit through the digestion system with a corresponding increase in daily liveweight gain. The flow-on beneficial health effects are evidenced in the survivability and production statistics have demonstrated calves raised on this nutrition program are healthier, better-producing animals that survive in the herd longer. Peer-reviewed and published studies found increased skeletal growth as juveniles, and increased milk production in the first lactation, and, considered these benefits to be a direct result of early, rapid, lean growth during the milk-feeding phase. 

The Queen of Calves nutrition program was initially developed as a result of observing unnecessary and avoidable wastage in the dairy industry. It is widely accepted that about 50% of NZ herd-replacements raised do not complete a third lactation. The cause of that wastage can be substantially attributed to inadequate early development with a consequential effect on fertility, lameness or mastitis. 

With the addition of Queen of Calves FINISHER to wholemilk or stored colostrum, the ‘milk’ transits the calf’s digestive system an hour and a half slower during the fourth week of the calf’s life. The slower transition of nutrients suggests greater nutrient capture from the milk (and other substrate elements), the calf digests food slower, which evidences as better contentment (behavioural trait), and improved daily growth of mass and bone (and therefore muscle). 

The research on clinical trials found that calves raised on Queen of Calves grew better during the milk-feeding phase, they achieved their key milestones of puberty, mating and herd-entry, and they went on to be more productive members of the herd than animals that were raised on conventional diets of milk and calfmeal. 

Bell-Booth Ltd has invested in fundamental calf growth research for over two decades. The Massey University work has compared Queen of Calves and untreated calves on growth rates and weaning times, milk production, fertility and survivability as heifers and cows. It studied the impact of adding Queen of Calves to the diet on bone development, compared growth rates where Queen of Calves was used with vat milk, and where it was combined with milk powder. In addition, the biggest assessment of all the work was a retrospective 5-year comparison of milk production, fertility and survivability. 

Scientists have since conducted four (independent) trials on Queen of Calves and produced peer-reviewed papers published in world-class journals. The research found this calf nutrition program offers a sustainable, healthier way of rearing replacements; with less negative impact on the environment, it demonstrates excellence in animal health and welfare and has demonstrated that it makes a more productive cow. 

In a retrospective 5-year comparison (BERL) of milk production, fertility and survivability (5-lactation study) at Massey University’s Number 4 dairy farm, the cows raised as calves on our nutrition program were shown to produce around 150kg more milk-solids than traditionally reared cows over those 5 lactations – per cow.

Queen of Calves raised animals have demonstrated a 95% survival rate in the herd from calf through to completion of the third lactation compared to a New Zealand herd estimate of 62%. In a 5-lactation study (BERL) at Massey University, 55% of the Queen of Calves-raised cows were still productive.

Yes, if the NZ herd was raised on Queen of Calves, the country could produce 25 million tonnes additional milk solids from the same number of cows in-milk, representing a farmgate income 10% greater than at present (an increase of around $100 -$150 million per year. This would multiply up to a total value chain increase in GDP of around $340 million per year). 

Our calves convert milk and calfmeal to liveweight more efficiently. A Friesian juvenile can convert 1,398 megajoules of energy from all of the inputs including the Queen of Calves STARTER and FINISHER to 54 kilograms liveweight gain within a 74 day period. Alternatively, a same birthweight and type heifer calf requires 2,002 megajoules of energy from the milk and calfmeal to produce a 54 kilogram liveweight gain, over a 96 day period.

Our calves convert milk and calfmeal and straw to liveweight more efficiently. We think a Friesian juvenile can convert 1,398 megajoules of energy from all of the inputs including the Queen of Calves STARTER and FINISHER to 54 kilograms liveweight gain within a 74 day period. Alternatively, we think a same size and type heifer calf requires 2,002 megajoules of energy to produce a 54 kilogram liveweight gain, over a 96 day period. 

At a $9 payout, a Queen of Calve nutrition program costs $NZ321 per calf in order to get a 38kg Friesian heifer from birth to 92 kilogram target weaning weight, ie 20% of her potential mature weight. By comparison, the same calf raised on a conventional diet requires 2,002 megajoules of energy from milk and calfmeal to achieve 92 kilograms, at a feed input cost of $366 per calf.

It’s important to realize that both the STARTER and FINISHER powders will not stay suspended in milk for long periods, so having a simple mixing system is quite critical to the success of your operation. Basically mixing is the only thing you can muck up in this process. So using a professional mixer, like a motorized mobile calf feeder, or a robotic calf feeder or the Bell Booth Rearing to Go or ABBA makes sure that mixing is sorted.

When used with an additional hopper, the Calf Expert provides the perfect system for rearing your calves on a Queen of Calves program. The flexibility of feeding programs means you can use both Starter and Finisher powders simultaneously with the whole milk system. The Queen of Calves program and CalfExpert are both industry leaders and when used together give your calves the very best opportunity to achieve optimum health and reach liveweight targets.