Effect of Heat Treating Colostrum

The research team at Penn State University compared the effects of heat treating colostrum using three qualities of colostrum (high 98g/L IgG's, medium 66g/L, low 52g/L). Note that even their lowest quality was above the industry standard of 50g/L for "adequate" colostrum quality. 

They varied the heat treatment time - one half was heat-treated for 30 minutes at 60C while the other half was heat-treated for 60 minutes. 

Heat treating decreased IgG concentrations but only by a small percentage. An average of 9 percent loss was present when heat-treated for 30 minutes and average loss of 12 percent when heat-treated for 60 minutes. Thus, even when these losses were subtracted from medium and high quality colostrum their values were well above the 50g/L industry threshold. 

Heat treating significantly decreased the bacteria both at 30 and 60 minutes of treatment with the longer treatment eliminating nearly all the bacteria. 

Further, heat-treating significantly improved the transfer rate of antibodies into the calves blood. 

Now. they also confirmed that as colostrum quality went up the total number of antibodies in calves went up - feed more, and more end up in the blood. [By the way, they fed 4 quarts to these calves within 60 to 90 minutes after birth.]

So, feeding high quality colostrum in significant volume shortly after birth actually works! Now, at the same time the percentage of antibodies fed compared to the volume that make it into the blood does take a hit with lots of high quality colostrum. The efficiency of absorption does go down when the gut is flooded with a bizzion (is that a number?) IgG's. 

From a practical point of view, I am aiming for the highest IgG level practical calf side on farm. The IgG's not absorbed can be high quality protein for the calf to digest.

Reference: Saldana. D.J., and Others "Effect of different heating times of high-, medium, and low-quality colostrum on immunoglobulin G absorption in dairy calves." Journal of Dairy Science 102:23068-2074 March 2019

Calf Health: The Futile Search for the Silver Bullet

The February issue of the calf management newsletter focuses on best management practices. 

The summary points are:

·        Calf health goals

·        The futile search for THE cause of illness

·        Observing the “critical control points” for immunity

·        Observing the “critical control points” for pathogen exposure

·   “Ducks in a Row” management vs. the “silver bullet” to solve health problems

The url is 

http://atticacows.com/library/newsletters/CEFebruary2019.pdf

Enjoy.

Calf and Heifer Management

Online Course

Cornell ProDairy program announced an online course to run from March 29 through May 17, 2019.

The topics:

• Calf nutrition Pre-weaning
• Calf nutrition Post-weaning
• Replacement economics
• Colostrum management
• Inventory management
• Genetics
• Calf health
• Housing

Instructors include Mike Van Amburgh, Heather Huson, Curt Gooch, Jason Karszes, Rob Lynch, Kim Morrill and Margaret Quaassdorff.

Registration: $25 discount if register before March 11. Total cost $265 per person.

Full course information is at prodairy.cals.cornell.edu/online courses

click HERE or paste this url in your browser

https://prodairy.cals.cornell.edu/online-courses/calf-heifer-management/

links at the bottom of the page will give you more information on

• Instructors
• Technology requirements
• Registration

First 24 Hours - Getting it Right

I am giving a lecture on Friday, February 8th, for a class at SUNY Morrisville - a 2-year dairy program. The course, Heifer Management, has one week devoted to the young dairy calf.

My title is "First 24 Hours - Getting it Right."

A summary is:

1. The first 2  minutes - breathe

2. The first 10-30 minutes - adapting to the new environment

3. Managing Colostrum - the 5 "Q's"

• Quickly
• Quantity
• Quality
• Quantify (BSTP)
• sQueaky clean

A copy of the powerpoint [English only] is available by sending an e-mail to

smleadley@yahoo.com - type First 24 Hours in the subject line of the e-mail.

Cold Weather Feeding Tips

Maureen Hanson has done a good job summarizing ideas for cold weather feeding for milk-fed calves. Her five main points:

1. Feeding delivery

2. Ration formulation and osmolality

3. Water

4. Mixing consistency

5. Feeding temperature

This review is at:

https://www.dairyherd.com/article/beware-abomassal-bloat-winter-feeding-changes 

or you can try bit.ly/preventbloat 

Beware of Cold Milk Replacer Powder!

Back in November, 2018, we had a local "cold snap." The outdoor temperatures dropped around 20F and just stayed there for over a week with little change during daytime hours. Now in January it was 0F when I left the house this morning. Cold is here to stay for a while.

Let's assume you observe milk replacer mixing on a dairy. The calf care person leaves the warm utility room and comes back with a 50 pound (22.7kg) bag of milk replacer powder. She proceeds to open the bag and scoop about two-thirds of it into the mixing barrel that was about one-third full of warm water.

She blends the powder and adds enough water to fill the 30 gallon (114L) barrel. Without using a thermometer it would be easy for you to feel that the mix does not feel warm enough (should be at least 105F) to feed calves on a cold day. Using a thermometer you might discover that the mix to be about 95F.

She had followed her "usual" mixing procedures that result in 105F mix. What happened that caused the mix temperature to be only 95F?

The milk replacer powder was stored in a cold shed, think well below freezing. The cold powder dropped the usual mix temperature about 10F.

The lesson here is test, don't guess. Beware of cold milk replacer powder during winter months - extra caution may be needed to have our mix at correct feeding temperature.

Sam has been Away!

Every year I volunteer to help senior citizens prepare their income tax returns - both federal and state. This requires a two-week long workshop on tax regulations and using computer programs to prepare the returns. That was January 14-25 this year. It was a "taxing" time" and I am now certified as an AARP volunteer tax aide. 

Sam's back. Enjoy the new posts.