Colostrum management in young calves

DIARRHOEA (scours) is the most common disease problem in the young un-weaned calf. It is estimated that it affects in varying degrees over a third of all calves during their rearing period and is responsible for about half of all British calf deaths.

Work done by consultants SAC estimates that scour can cost a 100 cow herd in excess of £3,000 a year – not an inconsiderable sum.

Calves are born with no protection against scour causing micro-organisms. They must therefore receive initial protection via colostrum from their mother, known as passive immunity. After this they must develop their own active immunity.

Many things can negatively affect this process. Some of these are out of control e.g. in approximately a quarter of scours the pathogen cannot be identified. However other things are within the control for the farmer such as colostrum quality and intake.

COLOSTRUM TIPS

Quality

Heifers and high yielding cows often have poorer quality colostrum so the quality can be checked using different methods:

• Brix refreactoeter

• Colostrometer

• By eye: assessing colour and consistency by eye is better than nothing.

Good quality colostrum contains at least 50g/litre of IgG. Poor quality colostrum should not be fed to calves in the first 24 hours of life, but is still a valuable food for calves in their second or third day.

Quantity

Calves should have at least 10% of their bodyweight as colostrum in the first 24 hours of life, ideally half of this within six hours of birth. This means ideally feeding 2-3 litres in the first six hours of life. Ideally have either frozen colostrum or a powdered version as a backup in case of an issue with the cow – see below.

Freezing colostrum

To ensure that you have enough good-quality colostrum when you need it you can freeze surplus colostrum. Ensure you label with the date it was collected and which cow it was collected from. Some retailers including CCF stock storage/ feed bags to make the process easier.

Heating colostrum above 40C can damage the antibodies. Ensure the colostrum is thawed slowly and thoroughly. Do not defrost it in a microwave.

Contamination during collection, transfer or feeding puts the calf at risk by introducing harmful bacteria when the calf has no active immunity to fight infection. As bacterial numbers in warm colostrum double every 20 minutes the storage method will also have an impact on the hygiene levels in the colostrum.

Pooling colostrum is not advised as disease can quickly spread from one cow to many calves on the farm. Because of this colostrum from Johne's positive animals should always be discarded.

Vaccination of the cow can also be useful if the pathogen has been identified as it can reinforce the protective qualities of the colostrum.

In addition protection for the new-born calf can be increased by using, an effective proven oral probiotic such as Provita Protect. It can also be used to bridge the immunity gap. This gap occurs when the passive immunity from colostrum has decreased and the active immunity from the calf itself has not increased quickly enough leading to a gap in the immune system.