Calves with Sam

How Often Do I Need to Check My 

Colostrum Bacteria Count?

It depends. Well, that is not a very helpful answer.

The national Dairy Calf and Heifer Association Gold Standards thresholds for bacteria counts in colostrum are <5,000cfu/ml coliforms and <50,000cfu/ml total plate count. For an expanded discussion of bacteria in colostrum click HERE

If the farm has not sampled and cultured "as-fed" colostrum for bacteria you can find a sample collection protocol HERE (or in Spanish HERE). I like to see a minimum of 5 samples each time. If the dairy is large enough to have different shifts of workers handling and feeding colostrum then 2 samples from each shift is a good idea.

When the results come back compare them to the standards above. By the way, when ordering the culturing from a lab you often have to specify that you want both speciation (which bacteria are present) and quantification (how many of each species). I usually tell the lab I do not want them to use techniques to get exact counts when the number of colonies on the plate are too numerous to count (often abbreviated as TNTC).

If the farm sample results look good (below standards) I recommend extending the sampling interval to every 3 months. This quarterly interval follows the seasons of the year along with changes in labor availability that go with cropping cycles. 

If the farm sample results contain one or more high count samples I recommend taking corrective action and resampling each month until the results come back in below the farm's goals. If coliform counts are high you may want to review my checklist for reducing these counts (click HERE).