Hur kan man få ned dödligheten hos kalvarna i dikobesättningarna?

Abstract: This work is a literature review along with interviews from nine suckler herds. How to reducecalf mortality in the cow herd is the focus of this paper. To get profitability of a herd, it isimportant that you get a live calf per cow and year. Good fertility of the cows thus is veryimportant. During the years 2007 - 2008, approximately 5.5% of all calves born by beef cowsdied and about 8.5% of the calves born by heifers died. Most calves die during calving. Thereare some statistics that show calf mortality has increased in recent years. It is important to findout why this is happening. The literature review was focused on feeding, body condition,rearing and breeding of the suckler cows and heifers and how it may affect the mortality of thecalves. An important factor that should be kept in mind is the body condition of the cow. A fatcow can have more calving difficulties than a cow in normal body condition. A thin andmalnourished cow is likely to have a weak calf which may have difficulties to survive. It isimportant to make assessments of the body condition of the cows and heifers during the year inorder for the feeding strategy. A proper feeding plan is essential in order to avoid drasticchanges in the body condition during the final weeks of pregnancy. The strategy should alsoinclude feeding of cows which are thin at weaning. Restricted feeding results in competition forfeed which leads to that some cows consume too much feed and some too little. Therefore, it isimportant to be able to group the animals according to nutritional needs. Heifers and cows inpoor body condition needs to have the opportunity to feed according to their needs. The cowscould be fed high-quality silage, but it is also important that they do not get too much of this asthe have a risk of overfeeding. The ration should therefore be balanced with straw. Free accessto minerals and a salt lick is also important for the animals.There are a number of factors in breeding to consider for reducing mortality. These are: thebirth weight, calving difficulties and stillborn calves. Inheritance for stillborn calves is low andtherefore difficult to select for. Therefore the focus should be on easy calving and calf birthweight in order to reduce calf mortality. It is very important to consider calving characteristicswhen choosing the breeding cow in the herd. A cow with difficult calving or a heifer with aparent with severe calving should not be recruited to the herd. Housing systems during winterfor the cows in Sweden range from tied system to loose housing systems and out door ranching.During calving it is important that the cow and calf go together for a while, if needed in order tobond. If the calving takes place during the cold season, farmers should have a warm room forthe calf available in the event of complications.The compilation of the interviews with the farmers shows that there are a number of elementsin the production that we can pursue in order to reduce mortality. In all herds, there was nomajor difference of the feeding of the animals within each herd. By grouping animals accordingto body condition and age it will facilitate to meet their nutritional requirements. Assessment ofbody condition of the animals was not very regular at the farms even though it is a simplemethod. It is also an important factor for the cow to have the right body condition at calving.On the visited farms, many cows were in optimal body condition. The farmers generally hadfew problems with calving difficulties and they hade few still born calves. It is important thatthe farmers target appropriate birth weights of calves. A heifer should not be covered with abull which gives high birth weight of calves. Cows that give stillborn calves should beremoved. Heifers should not be recruited from dams which have a history of calvingdifficulties. Finally, heifers should be assessed for their size / weight before being covered sothat the heifer is at an optimal size when she is having her first calf.