The Role of Colostrum in Managing Calf Health

Abstract

Passive immunity acquired by the newborn calf following ingestion of colostrum is a major determinant, but not the sole determinant, of health during the neonatal period. Colostral immunoglobulins provide both circulating antibody and antibody active at local surfaces such as the gut. There is a high prevalence of failure of passive transfer of colostral immunoglobulins in calves. The transfer of colostral immunoglobulins to the calf is influenced by factors such as age at first feeding, method of feeding, the volume of colostrum ingested and its immunoglobulin concentration, the feeding of single versus pooled colostrum, a possible effect from the presence of the dam, seasonal influences and individual calf variation in efficiency of absorption. In this paper the influence of each of these individual factors will be discussed, however, in most herds the occurence of failure of passive transfer results from an interplay between most of these influences.