Colostrum management for autumn calvers

Colostrum is the single most important thing a newborn calf receives in its first hours of life. Calves are born with little to no immunity, and unlike humans and other mammals, the cow placenta prevents the transfer of antibody molecules before birth. That means everything depends on what happens in those first few hours after calving. Getting colostrum management right gives calves the best possible start and sets them up for healthy growth through what can be a challenging autumn and winter ahead.

Words by Stacey Cosnett & Karen Fraser – Farmlands Technical Specialists

Calves drinking from a large blue feeding container with multiple teats in a barn, surrounded by hay.

Colostrum management

Use AHD tincture eight percent iodine for navels. Using the more concentrated iodine helps dry out and protect the calf navel. One spray at the time of pick up and one at drop off. Make sure that the navel is sprayed at the base of the navel. First feed first milking colostrum 2-4 litres or 10-15 percent of body weight within the first 6-12 hours of being born. This will depend on the quality of the colostrum to the volume that is needed.

Rule of thumb: let them drink as much as they will drink at first two feeds.
Twice a day pick up for optimising calf health.
A good colostrum keeper for transition milk (2nd-8th day milking) storage to help keep bad bacteria at bay is Nutricare Colostrum Keeper additive that acidifies the milk. 2kg will do 2000L. Do not stir too much. Add to fresh colostrum daily before adding to bulk storage supply.

The 5 Q's of colostrum management

Quality: Check IgG (Immunoglobin) rating. If using a refractometer, a minimum reading of 22 brix is good quality. Colostrum quality is better when calves are picked up twice a day. You can bump up quality by adding colostrum powder. 22 brix = 50g IgG per litre and calves need a minimum of 100g IgG on day one of life.

Quantity: 10 percent of birth weight. A higher volume needed if colostrum is of a poorer quality (up to 15 percent), this can be fed over a 12 hour period. Freeze in 2 litre amounts any great quality colostrum to keep for the days when quality is not ideal for calves later in the season.

Quickly: Goal within the first 1-2 hours of birth ideally, or within the first 6-12 hours. After 24 hours a passive transfer cannot happen, however the gut lining is still being protected by colostrum and is still helpful, so feed for as long as there is "free" supply of colostrum available.

sQeaky clean: Avoid bacterial contamination. Keep all colostrum buckets clean and covered. Use freshly harvested colostrum for day 1 calves and chill unused colostrum ASAP. Don't leave in heat as this increases bad bacteria. Bad bacteria can be passed through into the bloodstream of calves.

Quietly: A harassed or stressed calf will not divert IgG across the gut wall as effectively and will expose calf to a weakened immune defence. Always handle calves quietly and gently, even at pick up. Get the whole farm team on board. Rough handling and stressed calves = reduced passive transfer. Monitor passive transfer. Test IgG blood between day 4-7 to check day 1 process. Calves with failure of passive transfer are forced to divert nutrients from growth to building an immune response and are more likely to get sick in the first 2 weeks.

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