Is Your Calf Getting Enough Clean Colostrum?

[Chuckie]

I found this article in my "never ending" searches about cattle that I found really informative about the amount of colostrum a calve should receive at the moment it is born, and how uncleanliness can cause problems.
This article makes you think twice about what you need to do when you see a calf walking around and is not sucking after it has been born.
I thought I would share it with everyone.

http://www.calfnotes.com/pdffiles/CNCE0996.pdf

 

[CJohnson]

Last year I gave all my 1st calf heifer's calves supplemental colostrum. I gave them 1.5 quarts at about 6 to 8 hours of life. The idea was to let them nurse and bond with mom, then supplement to give them a little extra. Did not want to mess up bonding or mother nature but wanted to boost them. I looked for studies on this subject that measured to see if it made a difference on weaning weight, morbidity, scours, etc but did not find anything. My impression is that it helped, my calves were heavier, I had no scours, no death loss in 45 head. I am going to do the same again this year. Anyone else try this or have an opinion?

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

Last year I gave all my 1st calf heifer's calves supplemental colostrum. I gave them 1.5 quarts at about 6 to 8 hours of life. The idea was to let them nurse and bond with mom, then supplement to give them a little extra. Did not want to mess up bonding or mother nature but wanted to boost them. I looked for studies on this subject that measured to see if it made a difference on weaning weight, morbidity, scours, etc but did not find anything. My impression is that it helped, my calves were heavier, I had no scours, no death loss in 45 head. I am going to do the same again this year. Anyone else try this or have an opinion?

I don't have enough experience to give a qualified answer but I'm interested to hear what the old pros on here have to say so I'm going to give your post a bump.

My hunch is most will say the additional colostrum is not necessary.

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

Cow that can't do her job leaves. Not even going to start to run ever calf down to give it a bottle of colostrum it don't need.

 

[Chuckie]

I don't think it is so much about the cow at this point. Sometimes you can watch a cow and she will pop it out in the few hours you leave her. You find the calf wandering around, acting like it is looking for a place to nurse. What are you going to do with him now? If you see him nursing, then you have no worries. But if you don't, then you really don't know.

But I have seen a cow stand for hours and her bag look like it is going to explode and a bull calf not be able to find the teat. I have seen them suck on the back of their tail or between their front legs longer than I liked. You can only let this go on for so long before you need to help.

I've gone through the arguments of, "He wouldn't be walking around if he hasn't already nursed, etc....."
It just depends on if the calf is important or not. You can always ditch the cow later if she is walking away from him.

 

[Chuckie]

CJohnson, I don't think you are doing the calf any harm. If the calf continues to search for longer than normal time, I think it is a good idea to just go ahead and give him a bottle. It will help give him energy and immunity; he will know more about sucking instead of nosing around; and it won't keep him from getting immunity from his mom.

I have done it myself, and gave day before yesterday.

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

If you have much of that going on you are in need of a better class of cattle. A good momma is a going to make it work. If you got a bunch of borderline dumb suckers you got other problems.

 

[regolith]

the link is talking about dairy cows and calves.
That does make a difference - for example I doubt most of you are keeping cows that calve with their udders swinging below the hocks.
Old research showed that although heifers kicked more and generally behaved in a way to avoid allowing their calf to nurse, their calves in fact got more colostrum - presumably because the teats were right up in the first place the calf searched.

I'm going to go along with 'if all appears to be going well, additional colostrum is not necessary' and I don't think you need to micro-manage the situation to identify if all is going well.
I do give extra colostrum to a proportion of my dairy calves while they're out with Mum, most of them do just fine on their own. It might be one in ten, one in twenty, I don't know - gets to be nearly all of them in extremely bad weather.

 

[Chuckie]

I've had a dumb sucking bull.
I've been around some dumb suckers too.

 

[Chuckie]

regolith,
When I read the article, it made me think about how cattle lay in the same areas often. My hay rings are moved around in the pasture, but they seem to make a bit of a mess, splashing mud up on their bellies and udders.

 

[TexasBred]

Last year I gave all my 1st calf heifer's calves supplemental colostrum. I gave them 1.5 quarts at about 6 to 8 hours of life. The idea was to let them nurse and bond with mom, then supplement to give them a little extra. Did not want to mess up bonding or mother nature but wanted to boost them. I looked for studies on this subject that measured to see if it made a difference on weaning weight, morbidity, scours, etc but did not find anything. My impression is that it helped, my calves were heavier, I had no scours, no death loss in 45 head. I am going to do the same again this year. Anyone else try this or have an opinion?

Didn't hurt anything but probably was a waste of money. The cow should produce all the calf needs if it is nursing agressively.

 

[CJohnson]

I don't do this with cows, only 1st calf heifers. I am sure that any of you that calve more than 20 per year know that this group will weigh less on average at weaning than your adult cows. Why? Some of it I think is that the calf gets less colostrum and does not get quite as good of a start. Is it a waste of money and time? Not sure, because I think they gained better but I have no control group to prove this and have not seen anyone study it. It cost about $5.00 per calf (not counting my time). I tag them all, so have to catch them anyway. You would only need an increase of about 3 pounds per head average for it to pay at today's prices! Something to think about.