Farmers have been reminded not to feed ‘waste milk’ to their calves where whole milk is being fed to calves on farms this spring.
Milk from cows which have been treated with antibiotics cannot be used for human consumption within a given withdrawal date, and farmers have been reminded that this milk should not be fed to calves.
An information booklet circulated to all farmers who attended the recent Animal Health Ireland (AHI) CalfCare events reminded farmers that “if feeding whole milk – no waste milk, milk with antibiotic residue or high somatic cell count (SCC) milk should be fed”.
The booklet did not specify why waste milk should not be fed to calves, but according to the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), milk from cows with mastitis (or a high SCC) often contains large numbers of bacteria, and feeding this milk can potentially spread infection from your herd to the calves.
“Mycoplasma bovis often manifests as mastitis or high SCC in cows, and is another reason not to feed waste milk to calves,” according to the AHDB.
“Waste milk from cows being treated with antibiotics should not be fed to calves because of the risk of antibiotic resistant bacteria developing,” AHDB added.
What about transition milk?
Transition milk comes in the second-to-sixth milking after calving.
According to the information booklet, on farms where there are no underlying cow health issues such as Johne’s disease, calves should be fed transition milk.
The concentration of antibodies in transition milk declines with each milking, but it is “still a better feed source than whole milk or good-quality milk replacer” for calves after they have received their colostrum feed, according to AHI and Teagasc.
The information booklet also says that while “no additional antibodies can be absorbed across the gut wall after 24-hours-of-age, there is a local protective intestinal effect and feeding at least four feeds of transition milk after the initial colostrum feed, has been shown to reduce the incidents of sickness in calves.”
The series of events were run by Teagasc and AHI with support from both co-ops and meat processors in each region.
The events took place at various locations across Ireland throughout January and focused on a number of key aspects associated with calf rearing including housing, nutrition and genetics.
Speaking in advance of the launch of the events, Dr. Joe Patton, head of dairy knowledge transfer at Teagasc, said that the integration of both dairy and beef teams to deliver the events emphasises the importance of the calf rearing process to both farming systems.
“The value of a good relationship between the dairy farmer and the beef farmer should not be underestimated.
“It is essential that dairy farmers do their utmost to produce calves that have enhanced profitability potential, and look after them well up to the point of transfer from the farm to ensure the success of the dairy beef farmer’s operation.
“Their success is important to the dairy farmer due to their dependence on them to buy the calves they produce,” Dr. Patton said.