Colostrum

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kenny thomas

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How long does frozen colostrum stay good. Had forgotten to get any fresh, rarely need it, and had to use some that I don't know how old it is.
 
Freezing Colostrum
Having a good quantity of frozen colostrum on for emergency situations should be evaluated before calving season begins. The problem is: how do you obtain this colostrum? Many producers obtain colostrum from another farm, but producer should be aware that of the risk of obtaining a from another location. Diseases like Johne's disease and salmonella can be transmitted via colostrum and can be a disaster for your herd. Most veterinarians recommend you never use colostrum from another farm. The best ways to obtain colostrum are to: (1) milk out any cow or heifer that loses her calf for non-disease reasons in your herd or (2) take a small amount of colostrum (less than 500 ml) from numerous cows that have a more than adequate supply of colostrum for their calves, which can be labor intensive but worth the investment. Colostrum may be frozen for up to a year without significant decomposition of Ig. Research has reported that frost-free freezers are not optimal for long-term colostrum storage. These types of refrigerators go through freeze-thaw cycles that can allow the colostrum to thaw, which in turn can shorten the storage life of colostrum Some ideas for freezing colostrum is to utilize ice cube trays or small plastic bags so that fast and easy thawing can occur. Also, freezing colostrum in 1 or 2 liter bottles or 1 quart (liter) in 1 or 2 gallon zip-closure bags is an ideal method of storage. Use two bags to minimize chance of leaking, and lay them flat in the freezer. By laying the bags flat, rate of thawing can be increased, thereby reducing the delay between birth and feeding.

Thawing Colostrum
The main concern regarding thawing frozen colostrum is to thaw the ice without degrading the immune proteins. This is best done with warm (not hot) water (< 120øF) and allowing to thaw. Add more hot water to the bath as the frozen colostrum cools in the water. Alternately, colostrum can be thawed in a microwave oven with little damage to the Ig. It is important to microwave the colostrum for short periods on low power. Pour off the thawed liquid periodically to minimize heating. It is also important to avoid "hot spots" inside the frozen colostrum. Use of a turntable can help to minimize damage to Ig. Researchers at Cornell reported that this method can be quite effective in thawing colostrum with little damage to the Ig molecules.

Colostrum Refrigeration
Colostrum can be refrigerated for only about 1 week before quality declines. If you refrigerate colostrum, be sure that the refrigerator is cold (33-35 degree F) to reduce the onset of bacterial growth. If the colostrum begins to show signs of souring, quality is reduced. The IgG molecules in colostrum that convey passive immunity to the newborn will be degraded by the bacteria, reducing the amount of immunity provided. Thus, it is important that colostrum be stored in the refrigerator for only a short time.

........compliments of the University of Minnesota
 
good post.

I would add, not to use hiefer's colostrum, as it takes a couple years for the colostrum to build up to good levels of antibodies.
Some vets (ours does) have a machine that can test colostrum. If I remember correctly from a seminar, colostrum is at it's best in a 3-8 year old animals. After that it starts to slowly down grade.
 
thanks for the advice. I made a call to a dairy and will have some fresh in the morning. The dairy herd has been tested and is clean for all the noted problems.
 
Note, that dairy colostrum has quanity but not quality. And beef quality but not quanity.

What that means is, it takes more dairy colostrum to make up the required Ig than beef. It is more diluted for lack of a better word
 
rockridgecattle":1m63583f said:
Note, that dairy colostrum has quanity but not quality. And beef quality but not quanity.

What that means is, it takes more dairy colostrum to make up the required Ig than beef. It is more diluted for lack of a better word


WHAT???????????? Please back this up with reliable research...
 
Check with your vet HD. When they measure the colostrum they have seen that dairies colostrum is more on quanity of milk than colostrum. It takes more dairy colostrum to make up the required Ig. Beef colostrum is denser. Thicker. Less litres to get the same Ig.
NOt that is it better or worse....just that dairy takes more per litre to get the same as a beef cow's
You can see it when you milk both animals and compare side by side.
Our vet regularly measures the quality, she has some kind of machine that you can bring the colostrum down to have it tested.

http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department ... ll/faq8021

go half way down there it talks breifly and mentions diferent IG concentration...that is what i am talking about...just did not have the right words.
Dairy is less concentrated thus needing more litres
beef is more concentrated thus needing less litres to get the same Ig
 
rockridgecattle":u2qgf26e said:
Check with your vet HD. When they measure the colostrum they have seen that dairies colostrum is more on quanity of milk than colostrum. It takes more dairy colostrum to make up the required Ig. Beef colostrum is denser. Thicker. Less litres to get the same Ig.
NOt that is it better or worse....just that dairy takes more per litre to get the same as a beef cow's
You can see it when you milk both animals and compare side by side.
Our vet regularly measures the quality, she has some kind of machine that you can bring the colostrum down to have it tested.

http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department ... ll/faq8021

go half way down there it talks breifly and mentions diferent IG concentration...that is what i am talking about...just did not have the right words.
Dairy is less concentrated thus needing more litres
beef is more concentrated thus needing less litres to get the same Ig

Interseting because I've never seen any colostrum any thicker then what we get from the dairy that provides ours if we need it. Stuff is about like pouring STP.
 
we use to milk cows by hand for ourselves. Holstien, jersey and brown swiss. Then we milked a charlois at the same time. The difference was amazing. It felt thicker, gummer, more viscosity. Kind of like the difference between a light and heavy motor oil. The holstien was more of it, but the thinnest. Definitely thicker than milk but not as thick as the charlois. The brown swiss and the jersey were thicker than the holstien but still not as thick as the charlois.
Get colotrum from a dairy tested, and test same amount in volume from a beef...both the same age. Not the same concentration.
 
Had a cow that just lost twins two days ago. She never milked. Can I get colostrum from her till she dries up? Wondering how long I have to get my udder pump in or if I have to go do it by hand.
 
that cow tested postive for BVD PI right?

Do you really want to risk it? Colostrum sets the stage for what happens in life for that calf....?

oh yeah, colostrum is a one time deal. First milking. Second milking has less concentration of Ig

edit again...hate brain farts. If the cow is a heavy milker, never milk the first two times completely...'milking fever' can set in...I think that is the word. Then you do need a vet and fast for IV magnesium I think maybe i am wrong.
 
rockridgecattle":xl2h8qpc said:
that cow tested postive for BVD PI right?

Do you really want to risk it? Colostrum sets the stage for what happens in life for that calf....?

No, I wouldn't do that. I have them dying left and right over here. The place is littered with frozen calf corpses. At least there's no shortage of colostrum.
 
I posted last year about colostrum, and a study about color, density and viscosity not having anything to do with quality or IG's. If I have the energy/ambition I will search for it..

The age of the cow has the most to do with quality that is why when we froze colostrum it was always from older cattle only for many many reasons.

I think the main thing effecting the study is that a lot of dairies do not vaccinate because they are in a closed environment, unlike beef . If this was the case with dairy colostrum then my less than 1% fatality rate/year with my dairy calves would have been much greater.

I have had this discussion with the good Doc and as usual he rolls his eyes.. The colostrum that you can by from a vet in liquid form is from dairy cows ,it is expensive to say the least ($25/liter) and has higher IG's than the best powdered ..So I guess we are at an impass.. 8)
 
rockridgecattle":30zlzdie said:
one set of twins is not left and right. Unless you have alot more. But you probably have some good healthy ones too!!!

three live and three dead so far this season . . . and, yes, I am feeling sorry for myself . . . :lol:

but we digress. I have never found myself in need of colostrum (never had a dead cow from calving or a dumb sucker) except this year and could have used some real colostrum so I bought myself a milk pump to be ready for next time (it usually takes a loss to get me in gear).

so, can I get some colostrum from the cow whose twins just died until she dries up or is there a point even within the cow that it's too late?
 
angus9259":2amhpjly said:
rockridgecattle":2amhpjly said:
one set of twins is not left and right. Unless you have alot more. But you probably have some good healthy ones too!!!

three live and three dead so far this season . . . and, yes, I am feeling sorry for myself . . . :lol:

but we digress. I have never found myself in need of colostrum (never had a dead cow from calving or a dumb sucker) except this year and could have used some real colostrum so I bought myself a milk pump to be ready for next time (it usually takes a loss to get me in gear).

so, can I get some colostrum from the cow whose twins just died until she dries up or is there a point even within the cow that it's too late?

How long ago did she calve?
 

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