Feeding Fermented Colostrum
- Thread starter LoveMoo11
- Start date
Help Support CattleToday:
novaman
Well-known member
Is this really something being practiced? Sounds awful fishy to me. I feed colostrum as fresh as possible. The longer it sits the more bacteria it contains.
hillsdown
Well-known member
Yuk, never.. Freeze asap if not being used immediately, if not at least keep it refrigerated right away if you are going to feed within the next 2-12 hours..Especially places that get unbelievably high temps..
There is a reason for progress and evolution of handling practices.
There is a reason for progress and evolution of handling practices.
regolith
Well-known member
It's not for feeding to the real little baby calves - mix 50/50 with normal milk and feed to the older ones.
Having said which, I hate the stuff. Just like I hate feeding antibiotic milk to calves. It goes like thick yoghurt, leaves clumps of cheese in the milk feeders that are hard to clean, and tastes sour (yes, I do taste it regularly just to find out what I'm feeding the poor babies). In the early stages it smells beautiful, like honey, but already has that sharp taste.
I store all the surplus colostrum during the calving season, try to add fresh to the tank every day, and stir it daily. Because we're not supplying milk to the factory until about 20 cows have been calved 4 days or more, I try to catch the early season milk in another tank, or 44-gallon drums, to use first because milk doesn't have the keeping qualities of colostrum. It's not chilled, and I don't use a preserver. I just mix it with the older calves' milk until it all runs out, then all the calves can have fresh milk (with any available fresh colostrum mixed in) until weaning.
You'd pretty much have to either tip it into the effluent system, or feed a bunch of bull calves (I know a farmer who was doing that rather than storing colostrum) if you didn't do this.
It's also set out in my contract that I'm not allowed to take sale-able milk for the calves till all the antibiotic milk and colostrum is used, and I got interrrogated on what milk the calves were getting throughout calving. I suppose the farm owners actually believe I raised those calves on fresh air.
Having said which, I hate the stuff. Just like I hate feeding antibiotic milk to calves. It goes like thick yoghurt, leaves clumps of cheese in the milk feeders that are hard to clean, and tastes sour (yes, I do taste it regularly just to find out what I'm feeding the poor babies). In the early stages it smells beautiful, like honey, but already has that sharp taste.
I store all the surplus colostrum during the calving season, try to add fresh to the tank every day, and stir it daily. Because we're not supplying milk to the factory until about 20 cows have been calved 4 days or more, I try to catch the early season milk in another tank, or 44-gallon drums, to use first because milk doesn't have the keeping qualities of colostrum. It's not chilled, and I don't use a preserver. I just mix it with the older calves' milk until it all runs out, then all the calves can have fresh milk (with any available fresh colostrum mixed in) until weaning.
You'd pretty much have to either tip it into the effluent system, or feed a bunch of bull calves (I know a farmer who was doing that rather than storing colostrum) if you didn't do this.
It's also set out in my contract that I'm not allowed to take sale-able milk for the calves till all the antibiotic milk and colostrum is used, and I got interrrogated on what milk the calves were getting throughout calving. I suppose the farm owners actually believe I raised those calves on fresh air.
jerry27150
Well-known member
used to save it for about a week in an open milk pail. stired it & mixed enough hot water with it to warm it & calves loved it
novaman
Well-known member
My concern would be more towards bacteria counts rather than the calves drinking it. It may work but why take those kinds of chances?jerry27150":te3l0eqc said:
regolith
Well-known member
What do you think it would do to the calves novaman? It's essentially yoghurt; as I mentioned I taste the stuff myself regularly and it doesn't harm me.
Definitely you don't want to store it under the same roof as your bulk milk tank, but hopefully people aren't doing that.
I have somewhere in my photo files an 1100 litre white plastic tank that has suffered a volcano-type explosion... but I think I might have stirred it again before taking the photo - so it doesn't show the big mound actually bubbling over.
Definitely you don't want to store it under the same roof as your bulk milk tank, but hopefully people aren't doing that.
I have somewhere in my photo files an 1100 litre white plastic tank that has suffered a volcano-type explosion... but I think I might have stirred it again before taking the photo - so it doesn't show the big mound actually bubbling over.
novaman
Well-known member
It might not cause any issues. I just don't understand what you gain by feeding anything but the freshest colostrum available. There are some nasty micro-organisms lurking out there.regolith":1xnskxg7 said:
regolith
Well-known member
I'm seasonal calving. Just before starting supply for the season, I'm catching 100 - 150 litres of milk a day that I can't sell, on top of what the 20 or 25 baby calves I have on farm can drink.
Once supply (to the factory) starts, I use as much fresh colostrum as I can for the calves less than four days old, and mixed with whole milk in a quantity that keeps the older calves' feed *consistent*. Some days there is still 100 litres surplus colostrum produced, some days less.
The alternative truly is to tip it all down the drain or sell it for next to nothing to another calf rearer. I'm tied into using the stuff in my contract, not allowed to use milk that can be sold. Essentially its economic, and environmental (because spreading milk on the pasture can be environmentally hazardous).
I don't believe it's the best feed for calves, but they are content with it and grow well.
This is less of an issue for people who calve year round and/or have enough calves to use the surplus colostrum. In the future I'd rather do what my neighbour farmer did - raise extra calves on the fresh colostrum and store very little or none at all. Right now, and right up until I buy my own land and can do what I want instead of being tied into a sharemilking contract, I'm not allowed to keep extra calves aside from the 22% heifer replacements.
Once supply (to the factory) starts, I use as much fresh colostrum as I can for the calves less than four days old, and mixed with whole milk in a quantity that keeps the older calves' feed *consistent*. Some days there is still 100 litres surplus colostrum produced, some days less.
The alternative truly is to tip it all down the drain or sell it for next to nothing to another calf rearer. I'm tied into using the stuff in my contract, not allowed to use milk that can be sold. Essentially its economic, and environmental (because spreading milk on the pasture can be environmentally hazardous).
I don't believe it's the best feed for calves, but they are content with it and grow well.
This is less of an issue for people who calve year round and/or have enough calves to use the surplus colostrum. In the future I'd rather do what my neighbour farmer did - raise extra calves on the fresh colostrum and store very little or none at all. Right now, and right up until I buy my own land and can do what I want instead of being tied into a sharemilking contract, I'm not allowed to keep extra calves aside from the 22% heifer replacements.
