Brown Colostrum

[gendronf]

Sometime the colostrom is red. I suppose it's blood.
Today I had a cow that the colostrom was brown. 3 quarts.
I did'nt give it to the calf. I give him some from my freezer.
Is this brown colostrom is good? What's the cause?

Marcel

 

[Muratic]

Sometime the colostrom is red. I suppose it's blood.
Today I had a cow that the colostrom was brown. 3 quarts.
I did'nt give it to the calf. I give him some from my freezer.
Is this brown colostrom is good? What's the cause?

Marcel

Do you have a clostrometer? It is a thermometer looking thing about 2 ft tall. If you put it in a bucket a colostrum it will float and you can read the numbers to tell the quality of the colostrum.

Darker might be better...

 

[dun]

Older blood maybe?

dun

 

[Beef11]

Color is not a sure indicator of quality, a creamy brown is probably the favorite color. The colostrometer is the only way easy way to tell if it is any good. Heifers have a higher frequency of having failing colostrum.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

I agree the "brown" color is from old blood. Cattle that bag up heavy tend to get blood mixed in. It should be just fine. I have never had an instrument to measure our colostrom. I ASSUME, if the cow/heifer is in good BCS & healthy, than the colos. should be good.

 

[Beef11]

Colostrum quality has more to do with exposure and vaccinations than visual appearance. Since the main value of colostrum is to establish passive immunity in the calf we must look at what antibodies can be passed on. If a heifer has never been exposed to certain bugs her body won't have developed antibodies to deal with it and she surely can't pass on these antibodies unless she has them herself. I've seen beautiful healthy cows/heifers produce the prettiest richest looking colostrum that when tested failed miserably. There are many variables with colostrum so it is best to test it if the oppritunity comes.

 

[sidney411]

I've never seen one of these testers but am confused how a thermometer? type thing could measure the antibody quality of colustrum? Can someone explain this?

 

[Muratic]

I've never seen one of these testers but am confused how a thermometer? type thing could measure the antibody quality of colustrum? Can someone explain this?

Sid, this is a link to a colostrometer.
http://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html ... b0d0204ae5
Pour the milk into the tube. Put the meter in big bubble end first. It will float. If it floats in the green...the better quality the colostrum, in theory. The numbers on the meter are calibrated.
Clear as brown milk????

 

[dun]

I've never seen one of these testers but am confused how a thermometer? type thing could measure the antibody quality of colustrum? Can someone explain this?

The only one I've seen works based on the thickness of the colostrum. It doesn;t know squat about what's in it, just that there's lots of density.

dun

 

[Beef11]

I believe that colostrum rich in antibodies has a different specific gravity than colostrum that lacks lacks the vital antibodies.

 

[dun]

I believe that colostrum rich in antibodies has a different specific gravity than colostrum that lacks lacks the vital antibodies.

That's the term! That's why it's thicker.

dun

 

[Beef11]

glad i could be of help in remembering something. How have you been Dun?

 

[dun]

glad i could be of help in remembering something. How have you been Dun?

Just dandy. Considering

dun

 

[Beefy]

the only brown colostrum i ever saw was from a cow with a severe mastitis case and i surely hope that is not your cows problem.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

I should have clarified that I "assume" our cows/heifers colos is good because they have received all the needed vaccinations in a timely manner. I realize that vaccinations don't fully replace "exposure", but since we show a lot, our herd gets lots of "exposure".