The Three Golden Rules of Colostrum Feeding

Quickly, Quality, and Quantity

Calf raisers are responsible for the dairy herd's future - the next generation of healthy, high producing milking cows. The Wisconsin Herd Health Working Group has set out the 5 C's to a healthy start for newborn calves as: Colostrum, Calories, Cleanliness, Comfort and Consistency.

The foremost C is colostrum, and raising healthy calves requires a high level of commitment to good colostrum management. To achieve this, calf raisers should follow the

“Three Golden Rules of Colostrum Feeding” - Quickly, Quality, and Quantity.

1. Quickly - Give the first feed of colostrum as soon as possible after birth, preferably within the first hour, and not later than 6 hours. Calves that will not drink the full quantity described below should be fed with an esophageal feeder or tube. Hand feeding is encouraged rather than natural suckling.

2. Quality - Feed “good” quality maternal colostrum or colostrum replacers /supplements when maternal colostrum is not available. Good quality colostrum is defined as having the following characteristics.
a) Safe - Free of Johne's Disease, Bovine Leukosis virus, Salmonella species, Bovine Virus Diarrhea (BVD), Mycoplasma species, Staph aureus, Listeria, and Leptospira species. Pooling of colostrum from more than one cow is not recommended because of the risk of spreading these diseases.

b) Potent - To be most beneficial, colostrum should have a high IgG concentration, often defined as >50g/L. The IgG level in colostrum cannot be determined visually. A common rule of thumb when selecting colostrum to be used for the first feeding is to use only that collected from cows that milk less than 18 pounds (approximately 8 quarts or 2 gallons) at the first milking. Colostrometers can be used to estimate IgG levels, but are somewhat inaccurate and will both over and under estimate them.

c) Nutritionally balanced and complete

3. Quantity - Feed calves enough colostrum to provide them with not less than 100 g of IgG during the first 6 hours, and a total of not less than 150g to 200g during the first 12 hours. Since it is difficult to reliably measure colostral IgG levels on the farm, this can generally be achieved by any one of the following feeding protocols.

Article by Dr. Stephen D. Acres,
DVM, PhD, President & CEO
The Saskatoon Colostrum Co Ltd

Click here for a printable version of this article (PDF)

For more herd management articles click here

Posted Oct 7th

<< Back to Top