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Make Sure Your Calves Get The Best Start

A newborn calf has no active immunity to disease and relies on the antibodies it receives from its mother via colostrum for protection until its own immune system develops.

By Department of Primary Industries - 23rd June 2006 - Back to News

It is therefore very important that the calf receives adequate, good quality colostrum.

It is recommended that two litres of colostrum be fed in the first six hours of life, with the initial drink in the first hour. Another two litres should then be fed in the second six hours. An oesophageal (stomach) feeder can be used if the calf won’t consume sufficient amounts of colostrum.

Colostrum being offered in the first 24 hours should be fresh from the dam if of good quality, and not a mixture of milks. A Colostrum Metre can test the quality of colostrum. The higher the metre sits in the colostrum the better it is. The metre can be purchased from your local vet.

Colostrum from older cows generally has a higher level of antibodies than the colostrum from heifers therefore you can save good quality colostrum by freezing it. One of the best ways to do this is by putting the colostrum into snap lock bags and freezing them flat. Make sure bags are labelled well! They then can be thawed carefully by leaving them out of the freezer and as the colostrum melts pour it into a container. Don’t over heat the colostrum as this can destroy antibodies.

Newborn calves need a healthy and clean kick-start to life to get the best chance of growing and developing into top producing dairy cows.

Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: news@gippsland.com

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