Colostrum management

By Dr. Kevin Ratka, Vita Plus dairy specialist
When it comes to colostrum quality, it is not only the amount of antibodies present in the colostrum that matters, but also the hygiene of the colostrum being fed. Colostrum needs to be clean to achieve healthy calves.

Refrigerated or frozen colostrum must be carefully thawed and warmed before it is fed to a calf to preserve immunoglobulins. Producers can easily build their own colostrum thawing and heating unit to accomplish this task.

By Dr. Jenn Rowntree, Vita Plus calf and heifer specialist
The past two years have both been wet years, which is often associated with an increased risk for bovine respiratory disease in cattle of all ages. Consider these strategies to improve gut health and overall immune function.

By Dr. Jenn Rowntree, Vita Plus calf and heifer specialist
Colostrum is one of the best ways to ensure adequate transfer of immunity from the dam to the calf. However, when a calf doesn't receive enough immune protection, it can be vulnerable to health challenges.

Maria Poock with Fischer-Clark Dairy Farm Inc. walks us through the calf team's colostrum management protocols, including harvesting, testing, storing and tube-feeding colostrum.

By Ann Hoskins, Vita Plus calf products coordinator
Keeping a well-stocked maternity pen with these 7 must-have items can help give calves a successful start to life.

With Sara Schilling, Schilling Farms LLC
Sara Schilling of Schilling Farms LLC talks to us about her colostrum management protocols and describes her goals for giving calves the best start to life.

By Ann Hoskins, Vita Plus calf products coordinator
These 10 must-have items can help you give your calves the best start possible in the maternity pen.

By Brittany Olson, contributing writer
Colostrum is concentrated with important nutrients, antibodies and growth hormones to help give a calf a healthy start to life.  Steele explained how providing quality colostrum early in a calf's life can help it take in nutrition and repel pathogens. 

With Ann Hoskins, Vita Plus calf products coordinator
Cold temperatures are especially tough on newborn calves. In this edition of Calf Chat, Ann Hoskins, Vita Plus calf products coordinator, provides seven tips to give newborn calves the best start possible.

Rachelle Krienke has two major goals for her calves:  She wants them to be as healthy as possible and she wants to see good body condition at weaning.  She has designed a system that allows her to consistently reach both goals for her farm’s replacement heifers.

By Dr. Jeremy Schefers, University of Minnesota, and Dr. Noah Litherland, Vita Plus dairy youngstock technical specialist
Quality and hygiene are important considerations when feeding waste milk to nursery calves.  Benefits of on-farm pasteurization include reduced diarrhea and respiratory disease.  Proper pasteurization also kills Mycobacterium paratuberculosis (responsible for Johne’s disease), Salmonella and Mycoplasma, if present in milk. 

By Ann Hoskins, Vita Plus calf products coordinator
Colostrum management is a detailed process and management protocols lead to great success.  Whether you adhere to these protocols determines whether this is a make-it-or-break-it event in a calf’s life.

For example, what do you do if you don’t have the high-quality colostrum your calves need?  You need a back-up plan, and colostrum replacers and supplements can be a useful tool to give calves the best start possible. 

By Cassie Stillman, Vita Plus Loyal dairy specialist
Summer has finally arrived in central Wisconsin, but we had to first go through some unpleasant weather in May.  Heavy rainfall and cool temperatures made it difficult on calves.  Discussions with our team and on-farm observations point to respiratory problems as one of producers’ main concerns.  In addition, keeping calves hydrated and stress-free with the recent warm weather has become a priority.  Adjusting from one season to another can be very stressful on youngstock if the transition period is not smooth.

By Dr. Noah Litherland, Vita Plus dairy youngstock technical specialist
Serum total protein analysis is a simple and repeatable way to evaluate passive transfer of immunoglobulins in dairy calves up to five days of age.  When colostrum is fed, the immunoglobulins are absorbed through the intestinal wall and into the bloodstream, where they interact with tissues in the body to provide passive transfer of immunity from the dam to the calf.