With calving now underway on farms, it is important that you are testing and feeding colostrum to newborn calves.
Calves are born with no immunity and obtain maternal antibiotics from their mother’s first milk.
It is especially important to do so on farms where cows have been vaccinated for scour, as this is how antibodies are passed on to the calf.
This why following the ‘1,2,3’ method on farms is helpful in ensuring that calves get off to the best start in life.
Using the ‘1,2,3’ method:
- Use the first milk (colostrum) from the cow;
- Feed the calf within the first two hours of birth;
- Calves must be offered at least 3L of good quality colostrum.
Although the volume is important, the quality and the time frame calf receives the feed is also important.
Colostrum
The average dairy calf is around 35kg at birth, which is why feeding these calves 3L of high-quality colostrum is recommended.
For a 35kg calf, 3L equates to around 8.5% of their weight at birth, and this then ensures that once it is of sufficient quality, they will receive enough antibodies.
If your average calf weight is higher than 35kg, you may need to feed more to calves for their first feed.
All colostrum being fed to calves needs to be tested to ensure that the quality is sufficient.
Only colostrum that is over 22% using a brix refractometer should be fed to calves. Doing so ensures that it contains 50mg/ml of immunoglobulins.
If the quality is not sufficient, it should not be fed to calves and frozen supplies should be used instead.
Colostrum from cows that is of sufficient quality and that produces more than is needed for their calf should kept frozen.
This can become very useful during the calving period in situations where cows don’t produce enough.