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D
r Sam Leadley, a calf and heifer management specialist in New York
State visited several XLVet practices earlier this year. Elanco Animal
Health kindly sponsored a number of meetings and farm walks giving
Dr Leadley an opportunity to share his knowledge and experience with UK
farmers and vets. This is the first of two articles summarising the key points.
Focus on
Calf Management
C A L F MANAG E M E N T
Veterinary Surgeon
Julian Allen
XLVets Practice
Friars Moor, Dorset
Colostrum management
Good colostrum management is essential
for successful calf and heifer rearing. When
asked which was the most important stage of
a calf's life Dr Leadley's reply was ‘the first 2
hours’, in other words the time when it should
receive its first feed of colostrum.
Calves are born with no immunity to infection
because protective antibodies, also known as
immunoglobulins (IG), are unable to cross the
bovine placenta from dam to foetus. It takes
several months for the calf's own immune
system to become functional and during
this time it relies on IG acquired from the
dam's colostrum.
Calves with low IG levels are much more
likely to die or suffer disease, particularly
scours and septicaemia. Research shows that
50% of calves left alone to nurse the dam
will not receive adequate colostrum and not
achieve protective levels of IG. Colostrum
must therefore be hand fed in order to
ensure good intakes.
The quantity of IG transferred to the calf
depends on several factors:
l
Colostrum quality
A calf's initial feed must be of first milking
colostrum containing high levels of IG.
The level of IG in colostrum can easily be
estimated on farm with a Colostrometer
which measures the specific gravity of
colostrum. IG levels in colostrum decline
significantly post calving. Colostrum
collected 6, 10 and 14 hours post
calving compared with that collected at 2
hours had 17%, 27% and 33% less IG
respectively. Cows should therefore be
milked out as soon as possible after
calving to ensure best quality colostrum.
Second milking colostrum only contains
about 50% of the IG levels present at the
first milking and is not suitable for feeding
on day one. There are a variety of reasons
why individual cows may produce poorer
quality colostrum including high yields,
calving early, leaking milk, mastitis or short
dry periods of less than 40 days. Heifers
generally produce lower IG levels in
colostrum than cows. However, when
checked with a Colostrometer the
colostrum from nearly half of heifers
is as good as from mature cows.
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Timing of the first feed
Colostrum must be fed as soon as possible
after birth and at least within 6 hours.
The efficiency of colostral IG absorption
from the calf's intestine declines rapidly
following birth. After 6 hours, IG
absorption will only be 60% of that
achieved immediately after birth. By
24 hours very little IG is absorbed
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Colostrum quantity
Calves should receive 2 - 3 litres at the
first feed followed by another 2 - 3 litres
within the next 8 hours. The volume fed
depends on the size of the calf. Large
Holstein calves should receive 3 litres. If
a second feed is not possible, then feed
10% of body weight in colostrum i.e.
4 litres for Holsteins. Calves can be fed
with a bottle or for larger volumes, a clean
stomach tube may be necessary. IG is
equally well absorbed when colostrum is
administered by tube compared with bottle
fed colostrum.
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Efficiency of IG absorption
Calves that have been stressed by a
difficult calving or calves born into a dirty
environment which have ingested faecal
material containing harmful bacteria prior
to receiving colostrum will absorb less IG.
Such calves require early administration
of high quality colostrum.
7
LIVESTOCK MATTERS
WORKING
TOGETHER
FOR A HEALTHIER FUTURE...