AURELIUS - From the day a calf is born at Oakwood Dairy to the day it leaves the Aurelius farm, it is tracked.

Each Holstein cow is identifiable with earring-like tags that are cross-referenced to a database with information about its breeding pedigree, every time it has been given vaccinations, every time it has had a calf and every time it has been ill.

“If we have to touch or do anything to a cow we enter that into the computer,” said Brent Croscut, who has been the herdsman for Oakwood's herd of 1,500 lactating cows for four years. “We try to keep our record-keeping as extensive as possible.”

Each milk-producing cow has a transponder on one of her front legs that a sensor in the milking parlor tracks to document how much milk the cow gives and how many steps it takes for her to walk through the milking parlor.

That information is linked to Oakwood's computer system, Croscut said. Any cows that have a significant drop in their steps or their milk production are highlighted for a checkup with a herdsman's stethoscope, thermometer or rectum examination.

Most of the time, the cows have simply kicked the transponders off, but for those that are ill, Croscut and his colleague check on them throughout their 12-hour workday between 5 to 5:30 a.m. to 6 to 6:30 p.m. A night herdsman also works with the herd.

The dairy also has an extensive vaccination program in place, which is instituted, in part, with the movement of cows between different barns as they get older.

Oakwood's adult cows are vaccinated to prevent diarrhea in still unborn calves, the prevention of a disease that cause miscarriages in cows, toxic mastitis caused by E. coil bacteria, against Salmonella bacteria, against Clostridium bacteria and against bovine viral diarrhea, which affects the cows' reproductive and immune health. Calves are vaccinated against a few more.

Oakwood's herdsmen and herdswomen are familiar with the typical cow diseases, Croscut said, so abnormal illness symptoms will automatically lead to a phone call to Dr. Thomas Gill, of the Brookside Veterinary Clinic in Auburn, who does a herd check at the dairy one a week.

Gill said Oakwood is a top-notch operation with a focus on animal health that meets the dual goals of a better return on its investment dollars with more milk production and the prevention of disease.

“Day to day, everything they do here is for milk quality and disease prevention,” Gill said.

If a cow died and they aren't sure why, they also call Gill to conduct a post-mortem.

“We try to be very proactive,” Croscut said.

Fecal matter from sick cows are also tested on the farm. The milk distributor Oakwood supplies, Dairylea, also has a sample testing program for the milk before its trucks even leave the farm and also further along in the process.

There are boot wash stations for workers to wash down and disinfect their feet to prevent the spread of disease when moving between different areas of the farm. The biggest concern for efforts like that are for calves up to the age of eight to 12-weeks-old because of their susceptibility to disease.

A New York State Cattle Health Assurance Program sign posted on the exterior wall of the calf nursery warns visitors to the farm to stay away before they've checked in with employees.

Oakwood cows of all ages have clean bedding, adequate nutrition and ventilation to keep them healthy. Four new hutches for young calves are being tried out for their potential ability to cut down on diseases. The four hutches are open at the front and back to allow for ventilation, but have opaque walls that separate the calves from each other toward the goal of cutting down on the spread of disease, particularly fecal-based diseases.