Why Colostrum?
We all know that colostrum is incredibly important to the newborn calf. It gives her the immediate nutrition she desperately needs after being born, and it protects her from infections and in the first months of her life (Stelwagen et al. 2009). It also regulates and molds her immune system so that she can better respond to challenges later in life.
How To Get Great Colostrum?
It is simple to effectively give good colostrum.
Feed every calf 3-4 liters of >22 Brix score clean colostrum, at 100 F, within the first two hours of being born.
That’s it. We will always have excellent scores if we can just follow that method. There is no mystery in what it takes to get appropriate colostrum to a calf. The total protein in the calves scores will follow the quantity, quality, and timeliness of colostrum. This is an area that you don’t have to spend a lot of money to be excellent at. The challenge is doing it consistently, every single day, to every single calf.
Why Do Some Fail?
If your calves aren’t scoring as high on total proteins as you would like them to, there’s been a breach somewhere in that basic protocol, and most likely it’s been a slow erosion of the habits and protocols – a little less effort here, a shortcut there, and skipping a step or two once-in-a-while until the result is a group of calves that didn’t get the protection they so desperately need from the dam’s colostrum.
How Can We Do Better?
When it’s heavy calving season, when you have a new member on the maternity crew, or when you are just not getting the protein scores that you want for your calves – we can help you to do better with bilingual training and a start-to-finish assessment of your colostrum program.
Our audits and investigations are tailored to your concerns and goals, and modeled after principles in food safety (HACCP 2018). At minimum we will always evaluate technique, quality, sanitation, and environment and provide you with a detailed write-up on our recommended next steps to achieve your goal.
When you’re ready to improve colostrum, we are ready to help.
Check out these videos below for good information on colostrum management!
References:
- K. Stelwagen, E. Carpenter, B. Haigh, A. Hodgkinson, T. T. Wheeler, Immune components of bovine colostrum and milk, Journal of Animal Science, Volume 87, Issue suppl_13, April 2009, Pages 3–9, https://doi.org/10.2527/jas.2008-1377
- HACCP 2018. Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP). FDA. https://www.fda.gov/food/guidance-regulation-food-and-dietary-supplements/hazard-analysis-critical-control-point-haccp
- McGuirk 2015. Calf Management in the First 60 Days: Opportunities to Improve Health and Performance. Virginia State Feed and Association & Nutritional Management “Cow” College. https://www.vtdairy.dasc.vt.edu/content/dam/vtdairy_dasc_vt_edu/documents/cow-college/2015-cc/15-mcguirk.pdf