Calves and Drains: A lethal combination

25th August 2006

A large percentage of our dairy farms are surrounded and subdivided by deep drains, at calving time these drains become a death trap for new born calves.

Fencing that is totally adequate for most of the year does nothing for the young calves. A temporary fence using black and white electric netting from Fencewright NZ Ltd can be the answer.

This netting is a complete fence with 14 posts set in place, it can have the top two wires electrified to keep the cows off and the lower ten wires non-electrified to use as a safety net stopping the calves falling into the drains. It takes only ten minutes to erect 100 metres of fence, much quicker than dragging a dead calf out of a drain.