TABLE 2:

Summary of calf management practices for the 11 farms included in the study

Farm	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I	J	K
Number of  cows	247	300	280	550	320	450	190	350	550	186	240
Number of calves	54	36	48	51	48	39	35	54	56	26	45
Breed	Mixed*	H	H/VRX	F/VRX	H/VRX	H	H/A	H/VRX	H	H	H
Calving area	GP	SY	SY	SY	SY	IP†	IP	GP	SY	SY‡	GP
Group size (1)	10–20	1	3	1	3	5	1	10–20	5	1	5
Age at transfer	3–5 d	1–2 d	1 w	1 w	1 w	3 w	2–3 w	3–5 d	1 w	NA	1–2 w
Group size (2)	30	1	4–6	12	4–6	20	3	30	30–45	NA	15
Feeding method	Auto	Bucket	Drum	Bucket	Drum	Auto	Bucket	Auto	Auto	Bucket	TF
Feeds/d	NA	2	NA	2–1	NA	NA	2–1	NA	NA	2	2
Type of milk	MR	MR	Waste	MR	Waste	MR	MR	MR	MR	MR	MR
Forage feed§	Hay	Straw§	Silage	Straw	Silage	Straw	Straw	Hay	Straw	Straw§	Straw§
Weaning period	1 w	1 w	2 w	1 w	2 w	1 w	1 w	1 w	1 w	1 w	2 w
Weaning age	8–9 w	6–8 w	7–9 w	7 w	7–9 w	8–10 w	6–9 w	8–9 w	8–9 w	6–8 w	7–8 w
Vaccines	No	Yes¶	Yes¶	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No

*Jersey, FriesianxJersey, Jerseyxother, Friesianxother.

†Calves snatched as soon as observed.

‡Age at separation from dam between 12 hours and several days.

§Straw only provided as bedding.

¶Intranasal Rispoval (Zoetis UK, Tadworth, UK) preweaning for respiratory syncytial virus and parainfluenza.

A, Ayrshire; d, day; F, Friesian; GP, group paddock; H, Holstein; IP, individual pen; MR, milk replacer; NA, not applicable; SY, straw yard; TF, teat feeder; VRX, Viking Red cross; w, week.