Farms entirely dedicated to heifer raising are becoming more and more common in the United States today. The Professional Dairy Heifer Grower’s Association (PDHGA) was formed as a forum for producers who specialize in calf and heifer rearing. In October, the PDHGA sponsored a conference and farm tours in Western New York. One of the farms that the group visited was “Heifer Haven Farms”, operated by John and Kelly Karzes and their family.
The barns have the capacity for a total of 1850-1900 animals, and they currently house 1500 heifers. There are four full time employees in addition to John. Kelly teaches school full time, but she and the couple’s two daughters work on the farm as needed.
The farm consists of approximately 1200 acres of cropland. All of the feed except for the supplements is raised on the farm. The basic ration is 50/50 corn silage to haylage (dry matter basis). This varies based on inventory. Dry corn meal and soybean meal are also utilized. Typically, the farm raises 600 acres of corn and 500 acres of hay. The rations do not require high amounts of energy, so they aim for higher yield per acre of corn instead. This year, they had an average of 27 tons per acre of corn silage. Hay is harvested in four cuttings. A later first cutting is utilized to increase yield and decrease protein content. Again, the goal is to increase the yield.
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Heifer Haven is somewhat unique in that there is no written contract with their 10 clients. Owners are charged by the day to keep their animals there. Health and reproductive issues are of great importance. Some of the calves are purchased from calf raising facilities and some come directly from the owners. If owners purchase calves elsewhere, they must house them on their home farm for at least two months before shipping them to Heifer Haven. This serves as a quarantine period, wherein the owner is responsible for evaluating the health of the animals before they arrive at Heifer Haven.
All calves are required to be BVD tested before they are picked up at their home farm. This, as well as the normal calf vaccinations, is the responsibility of the owner. Minor vet work at Heifer Haven is paid for by John, and any major vet work is the responsibility of the owner.
Record keeping is very important, given that they are managing animals for 10 different owners. Average daily gain, reproductive history, health history and location on the farm are all tracked. All calves are outfitted with plastic and metal ear tags, with the option to customize numbers to fit in with their home farm numbering system. Generally, average daily gain is about 2.2 lb, and this varies with age. Mortality rate is approximately .06 percent.
Reproductive history is closely tracked. The herds mean does heat check twice daily. Heifer Haven uses all natural heats, with no heat synchronization. Ninety two percent of the breeding is done via artificial insemination, and a bull is used for clean up. The owner pays for all AI work. Approximately 70% conception rates after first service and 90 %second service. Average services per conception are 1.4. One unique feature of the farm is that they have no headlocks in the barns. In the breeding barn, there is one central chute where any of the pens can be directed. All breeding and breeding checks are done here and, according to John, the system works well.
The barns are separated base on age. Within each barn, heifers are further divided into groups based on age.
In the young barn, animals are brought into the first pen from outside sources. Since this is the barn that animals first arrive at, special precautions are taken to minimize stress. All young heifers are fed a pelleted feed in addition to their silage mix to promote growth and to combat the stress of “moving in”. Animals are weighed frequently to monitor gain. In this first barn, the water troughs are heated to promote water intake. According to John, this seems to cut down on health problems and gives the young heifers an added boost to overcome stress.
There is also an intermediate barn and a breeding barn, where heifers are again grouped by age and closely monitored. One drawback at the farm is that there is no pasturing available. Strict CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation) rules combined with a great deal of steep ground make it difficult to justify pasturing. Most of the barns provide access to outdoor pens, and all barns have plenty of indoor stall and alley space for the heifers.
The “pregnant barn” for the bred heifers is situated a distance from the other barns. This is a modern style four row freestall barn, with an outdoor exercise yard. Heifers are kept here during the period after they are confirmed pregnant until they are shipped back to their home farm.
Related Links:
Developing the Next Generation- From Dairy Modernization and Planning Guide
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