Calf Rearing and Calf Health Emer Kennedy Animal & Grassland - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Calf Rearing and Calf Health

Emer Kennedy

Animal & Grassland Research and Innovation Centre, Teagasc, Moorepark, Fermoy, Co. Cork emer.kennedy@teagasc.ie

Calf mortality

Calf Welfare – is there an issue?

IgG mg/ml Visit 1 31 Visit 2 28 Bulls 29 Heifers 30

• No calves dying in first 6

week reducing

• Low by international

standards On-farm survey

Of samples tested:

• 9.6 % had FPT of

immunity

• Mortality rate twice as

high among FPT calves

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Dead at birth, % Dead at 28 days, %

On-farm survey: Volume fed to Calves

3

No difference in

colostrum volume fed

between bulls/heifer Volume Percentage < 2L 3 2-3 L 59 3-4 L 17 Unknown 21

Bulls receiving 6 L/day Heifers 6.25 L/day OAD feeding on 38 % farms.. from 23 days.. 5 L/day

Bulls Heifers Waste Milk 34.04 17.02 Whole milk + Waste Milk 42.55 23.40 Milk Replacer 8.51 42.55 Whole milk 12.77 14.89 Yoghurt milk 2.13 2.13

Post Colostrum Milk feeding

Environmental assessment

• Hygiene of feeding equipment
• Influences transmission of disease
• ‘3M™ Surface Hygiene Test Kit’
• Bacteria / Milk protein residue
• Four point scale
• 1= Clean , 4 = High level of residue

4

Survey: Environmental assessment

• First visit: 2.29

5

Feeding implement Avg Hygiene score (1-4) Group feeders 2.28 Automatic feeders 1.00 Bottle & teat 4.00 Individual feeder 2.46 Stomach tube 4.00

Young calves exposed to unhygienic equipment …

Feeding implement Avg Hygiene score Group feeders 2.97 Automatic feeders 1.00 Bottle & teat 2.42 Individual feeder 1.89 Stomach tube 4.00

• Second visit: 2.76

Achieving adequate passive transfer (APT)

3 key factors for APT 1) Quality of colostrum 2) Timing of feeding 3) Volume of colostrum

When a neonatal calf absorbs an adequate quantity of immunoglobulins

The risks associated with poor colostrum management

7

There are many negative consequences of failure of passive transfer (FPT) :

• increased risk of disease and death,
• slower growth rates
• reduction in long-term productivity
• decreased milk production in later life
• increased culling rate during the first lactation
• delayed time to first insemination

New Calf Born …… 1 am

Go back to bed??? Feed Colostrum

Why is colostrum important?

• No transfer of immunoglobulins

between cow and calf

• Placenta separates maternal

and foetal blood supplies

• Calf is almost entirely

dependent on absorption of maternal immunoglobulins from colostrum

Factors affecting colostrum quality

(4) Weight of colostrum

IgG concentration decreased by 1.7 g/L per kg increase in the colostrum weight

(2) Time interval (1) Parity (3) Month of calving

Other Factors Affecting Colostrum Quality

• Lactation number
• Length of the non-lactating period (if less than 3 weeks)
• High ambient temperature pre-calving
• Breed of cow
• Quality of colostrum in beef breeds is generally better than in

dairy breeds

• Average values in most studies well above 100 g/L - good

enough to provide adequate passive transfer, as long as supervision is provided to ensure colostral intake

11

Changes in IgG content between milkings

Milking number IgG g/L Transition milk Colostrum

Testing colostrum quality

Refractometer

Place few drops of colostrum here Look through eye piece What you see through the eye piece Values greater than 22% represent high quality colostrum suitable for calves 1st feed

When should colostrum be fed?

Within hours of birth

10 20 30 40 50 6 12 18 24

Hours after birth

Efficiency of IgG absorption (%)

Maximum absorption within 2 hours

How soon should colostrum be fed?

How much colostrum to feed?

Feed at least litres

Pooling of colostrum

• Pooling is not recommended
• Pooling Risks

– Dilution – Disease spread (Johne’s Disease)

18

Treatment

Own dam Other dam Pooled SEM P-value

Colostrum IgG (mg/ml)

88.55a 94.18b 87.41a 1.66 <0.01

24 h serum IgG (mg/ml)

44.53a 43.84a 40.50b 0.64 <0.01

AEA* (%)

55.39a 54.07a 51.52b 0.76 <0.01

Effect of colostrum origin on antibody absorption

*AEA is apparent efficiency of absorption

Colostrum storage

• Colostrum should be collected & stored in clean containers
• Refrigerate within 6 hours of collection
• Bacterial growth highest in first 6 hours
• Will last for 48 hours when refrigerated
• Colostrum can be frozen for up to a year

10 20 30 40 50 Past Fresh 4 deg 13 deg 22 deg

Serum IgG Treatment Comparison of serum IgG concentrations between colostrum with varying bacteria levels