The 2021 winter guide

The very first drink a calf has is the most important of its life.

Calves, lambs

& liquid gold

A calf that doesn’t drink until six hours old has already lost the opportunity for 30% of the possible antibodies entering its bloodstream.

1 Do you know what colostrum is?

True colostrum is the very first nutrientfilled, antibody-rich milk produced by the udder from the very first milking after birth. Calves are born without antibodies and rely on this one feed for a huge dose of antibodies from their mother passed via the milk.

2 The 3 big Qs of colostrum

Quickly

Feed it within the first few hours of birth, and definitely within 12-24 hours while the calf’s digestive tract is still receptive to absorbing antibodies.

Quality

The first milk produced by a cow straight after birth is true colostrum which contains antibodies (against diseases) for absorption by the calf – the second milking won’t provide the same level of protection.

Quantity

A calf needs to ingest sufficient amounts of these antibodies, 10-15% of their bodyweight of colostrum within the first few hours of birth. For example, a 40kg calf needs 2 litres at birth and a further 2 litres, 6-12 hours later.

3 Timing is everything

Getting colostrum into a calf as soon as possible after it’s born is crucial, says veterinary technical advisor Rosemary Milne. Firstly, the quality of colostrum is at its highest in the first milk produced by a newly-calved cow, but there’s a second factor.

“The ability of a calf to absorb the antibodies in colostrum declines rapidly over the first 12 hours after birth and it’s gone completely within 24 hours. The calf needs to receive sufficient antibodies from colostrum within the first 6-12 hours, the sooner the better.”

Generally, beef breeds have better maternal instincts than dairy cows, feeding their calves quickly and more often. Research shows that calves born to dairy cows often don’t ingest sufficient colostrum because the maternal genetics are much weaker.

4 Store it carefully

It’s a good idea to save some colostrum from early calving cows for emergencies.

True colostrum needs careful treatment if you’re planning to store it for orphan or rejected calves, and it’s a challenge to maintain its quality, says Rosemary.

Each calf may need 4-6 litres, depending on its size. You can:

■ store it in the fridge where it will last a couple of days;

■ add potassium sulphate to it, a food preservative available from your vet. Store it

in the fridge where it will last up to a week;

■ freeze 4 litre lots in sterile plastic containers, enough for one drink.

If you freeze it, then you need to defrost it carefully, says Rosemary.

“The problem is the proteins (including antibodies) in it are quite delicate. If they get too hot, they just melt (denature), they break up and are destroyed and it’s the antibodies you want to preserve. When you’re defrosting colostrum, you want to do it as quickly as you can, without destroying anything in it.”

The best way is to use a hot water bath. “You want a big tub of hot water at a maximum of 49°C – that’s roughly as hot as you can hold your hand in for 10 seconds before it becomes intolerable. That will make the colostrum (within a container) defrost at a reasonably swift rate that won’t destroy any of the proteins, but swift enough that you’re not allowing the colostrum to spoil.”

5 Why calves need water, in addition to milk

A lot of people don’t realise calves need a constant, clean, fresh water supply in addition to milk.

Drinking water is imperative for good rumen development, improving feed intake and weight gain.

“The calf is getting liquid (milk), but that liquid goes into a different part of the stomach,” says ruminant nutrition expert Wendy Morgan. “The milk is diverted into the abomasum, but the water will go into the rumen and it’s the rumen we’re trying to develop. Having (water) in there means that it’s a liquid environment for the microbes and the feed particles to move around in and be broken down.”