We all know that our children are our future. Well, your calves are your future herd. Any mistakes made early in the life of your calves may affect their milk production and reproduction in two years time. 
 
We can talk about feeding supplement. We can talk about drenching. But what I want to talk about is grazing. 
 
Do you have a really close relationship with your grazier? Who pays for supplement in a feed pinch? Who makes decisions about when to drench and what to drench with? What is the mineral status of the pasture your heifers are grazing? Who makes the call about zinc blousing? 
What’s the plan to protect them from Mycoplasma and BVD at grazing? 
 
We would all love to wave our calves goodbye, load them on a truck, and then unload them in a year and a half as big, fat, shiny, pregnant heifers. But it’s not that easy. If your calves don’t get the tender care that they need in their first two years, they will be set back for life. Poorly grown heifers don’t get in calf as well, and those that do will struggle to get in calf after their first year of milking. They don’t produce as well as properly grown heifers. We all know this. 
 
Communication with your grazier is key, and if you’re not sure where to start, talk to your local Anexa Vet. And please, go and visit your heifers; how else will you know what’s going on?