Calf Colostrum Management Flashcards
do calves have other opportunities besides ingesting colostrum to gain any immunity early in life?
not really! the bovine placenta does not allow for any transfer of protective antibodies
what is the best vaccine a calf can get?
colostrum! lol
what is colostrum made up of mostly?
antibiodies (imuunoglobulin G), immune cells, fat, vitamins, minerals, antimicrobial peptides
the transfer of passive immunity depends on what 3 things?
how much colostrum is available: immunization of the cow and nutrition of the cow
how much the calf actually got
How much the calf actually absorbed
when does a cow start making colostrum?
how long after getting a vaccine does it take to generate antibodies?
so when do we want to vaccinate cows to get antibodies into colostrum?
3 weeks before calving
takes 2 weeks to make antibodies
5-6 weeks before calving
what 4 things are included in a scours vaccination
coronavirus, rotavirus, E coli, C. perfringens
is giving a scours vaccine to a late pregnant cow a guarantee for healthy calves?
no! a vaccine is only as good as the colostrum management! the entire purpose of vaccinating the cow is to protect the calf, not the cow (except mastitis)
what are the 3 determinants of how much colostrum a calf actually gets (colostrum volume)?
the IgG concentration–>how many antibodies are in there?
how old is the calf?
how efficient is absorption?
what are the 5 Qs of colostrum?
quality, quickness, quantity, sQueaky clean, Quantify
how does beef and dairy colostrum differ in regards to yield and average IgG concentrations
dairy cows produce more, but have lower IgG concentrations
beef cows produce less, but have higher IgG concentrations
for determining IgG concentration, what tests can be done?
Reference test=radial immunodiffusion (RID) but this test is very $$$ and takes a long time
brix refractometer: a few hundred dollars and useful on farm
colostrometer: get a measure of specific gravity, has to be at room temp
for DAIRY, what do we want our IgG colostrum numbers to be?
we want at least 50g/L of IgG
brix refractometer: 23%
colostrometer: 80mg/ml
for BEEF, what do we want our IgG colosotrum numbers to be?
we want between 100 and 150 g/L
Brix between 24 and 30%
commercial colostrum products should have _____ of IgG per package
> 100g
why is age of the calf important for colostrum management?
the gut only absorbs colostrum for the first 24 hours and drastically reduces after 4-6 hours
quality of colostrum can also decrease with time to suckle/collection
what are some factors that affect how efficiently the calf is able to absorb colostrum?
timting
contamination (manure)
dystocia or prolonged calving
cold stress (poor blood flow)
route of administration
body weight
how much colostrum does the typical calf absorb?
20-30% of what theyre fed
in dairy calves, colostrum should be fed ______
as soon as possible after birth
what are the 2 ways we can know when to intervene with colostrum for BEEF calves?
calving ease and suckle reflex! these two things will predict if they can handle things on their own or if they need help
for example, the more difficult the calving, the higher the risk they fail to consume colostrum on their own
similarly, a weak suckle reflex means they have a higher chance of failing to consume colostrum on their own
list some factors that reduce vigour (strength and good heath) and therefore affect colostrum consumption
mismothering
cross fostering
twinning
dystocia
body weight
calf sex: males are slower
weather
what is our goal for the colostrum quantity/mass for IgGs?
200-400g, even up to 500g!
why do we assume worse case scenario for colostrum quality?
now is not the time for taking risks! there is so much variability in colostrum quality so we just play it safe
how many liters of colostrum does a dairy vs beef cow need?
dairy: 5-10 L
beef: 3-5 L
dairy calves should get _____ colostrum within _____, followed by ______
more than 4L within 4 hours of birth
another 2 L within 12 hours of birth
true or false: there is very little in the literature to guide colostrum management recommendations for beef calves
true! there needs to be a balance between getting enough IgG into the calf, but not interfering with subsequent nursing behavior
what are the guidelines for feeding colostrum to beef calves?
feeding 1.4L of 70g/L IgG colostrum product resulted in calves nursing sooner, done with a tube.
using a nipple bottle is preferred but not all calves finish their bottles!if a calf refuses to finish their bottle, this indicates they weren’t going to suckle as soon
what are the pros of bottle feeding vs tube feeding colostrum? which is preferred in dairy calves?
bottle feeding: encourages closure of the esophageal groove so colostrum goes into the abomasum
tube feeding: faster and ensures consumption by calves that wont suck a bottle
in dairy: when giving large amounts, they are equal, but when giving small amounts bottle feeding is better
why do you want to avoid contamination of colostrum?
bacterial contamination causes disease and reduces absorption of antibodies
true or false: if you’re not going to use colostrum right away, you should put it in the fridge
false, you should put it in the freezer! in the fridge after 2 hours there is too much bacterial growth so if you arent gonna use it just freeze it
how do you “quantify” colostrum?
send it to za labbbbbb
for beef calves, failed transfer of passive immunity is defined as ____. what about inadequate transfer of passive immunity?
failure=having IgGs less than 10g/L
inadequate=having IgGs less than 24 g/L
how do you assess TPI status of calves on a farm?
use the radial immunodiffusion test (reference test)
can also estimate IgG concentrations usnig brix refractometer or serum total protein using a refractometer as well
what are 4 main impacts of failed TPI?
death/mortality
bovine respiratory disease
diarrhea
overall morbidity
can you feed dairy colostrum to a beef cow?
NO! beef colostrum has way higher IgGs compared to dairy and so dairy is NOT a good substitute for beef
what is biocontainment?
focusing on reducing spread of disease causing agents WITHIN a herd or operation
why do we want beef calves to all be born early in the calving season?
it limits exposure to amplified pathogen numbers and there is less time for things to get dirty. BUT it has to be done well!
pros: uniformity of calves, minimizing exhaustion of environment, decreasing exposure to pathogens
why are calves from heifers at highest risk?
because heifers are more likely to have low quantities of colostrum, have an assisted calving, and have problems with mismothering.
for this reason we want to calve heifers first to expose calves to less and have them get more attention
what are the 3 possible “systems” for pasture management?
sandhill system, foothills system, or calve later and on large pastures
briefly describe the sandhills system
start with all pregnant cows in one large pasture. then after 2-3 weeks, the cows that still havent calved get moved to pasture 2. another 2-3 weeks go by and remaining cows yet to calve go to pasture 3, and so on. After 4-6 weeks you can combine pairs from the first few pastures
briefly describe the foothills calving system
start with a large pasture for all pregnant cows. After calving, move cow calf pairs to nursery pen 1. After 1-3 weeks, shut pen 1 and start putting pairs in pen 2 and so on. The goal is calving on clean pasture and keeping the age of calves as close as possible. Can help with scours outbreaks
if you feed cows on the ground, what should you be doing?
move the site each day to prevent cows congregating in one place every single day!
why do you need bedding in multiple locations throughout the pasture/pen?
to spread out where the cows are laying down. if there’s only one spot with bedding, theyre all going to hang out there
what are the 3 parts of biocontainment?
space, time, protocols
for dairy cows, how much space does each calf need? what is the knee test?
32 sqft per calf
knee test is a way to test for good drainage and dry bedding–>get down on to your knees and they shouldn’t get soaked in 10 seconds
how do you prevent disease spread from older calves to younger calves?
have an age range of <7 days in group housed calves
house less than 8 calves together per pen (group housing)
options for well draining base for calf bedding?
gravel or sawdust
describe a nesting score of 1,2 and 3
1: bedding does not cover any part of the calf’s foot or leg when lying down
2: bedding covers part od the lower leg and part of upper leg remaining visible when lying down
3: calf legs are not visible when lying down
