Quality Colostrum is (Liquid) Gold

Published on: Feb 20, 2023

February 2023 is the start of a new AHDB campaign #ColostrumIsGold. Failure of passive transfer of immunity (FPT) in calves occurs when they do not absorb enough antibodies from colostrum. FPT has been linked to increased calf disease, increased death rates, reduced weight gain, increased age at first calving, reduced first and second lactation milk production and increased first lactation culling. Quality and volume of colostrum fed are the two biggest factors affecting the amount of colostrum antibodies consumed. An achievable herd level goal is to harvest colostrum ≥ 22% on the Brix refractometer in 90% of samples tested.

Colostrum quality is affected by:

• Delayed collection – concentration of antibodies in colostrum is highest immediately after calving and decreases by 3.7% during each subsequent hour milking is delayed.
• Dry period – cows with a 40-day dry period produced 2.2kg less colostrum than cows with a 60-day dry period in one trial. Cows with dry periods <21 days produced colostrum with lower antibody concentration.
• Bacterial contamination – increased colostrum bacterial levels reduce antibody absorption; bacteria complete with antibodies for absorption or bind with antibodies affecting absorption. Unless colostrum is fed immediately it should be frozen or refrigerated within 1 hour of collection. Refrigerated colostrum should be used within 24 hours, this can be extended to 6 days with the addition of colostrum preservatives. Pasteurising (60C for 60 minutes) can extend refrigeration to 8 days. Pasteurisation of colostrum and milk significantly decreased calf disease from 15.0 to 6.5% and death rates from 5.2 to 2.8% in one research trial. Hygiene of dump buckets and colostrum feeding equipment is vital – think of all the work we put into keeping parlour bactoscans low and apply the same principles.
• Dam vaccination – vaccination is unlikely to increase the total antibody count but will increase concentrations of antibodies for pathogens including Coronavirus, Rotavirus and E. Coli. Bovigen scour is used successfully on many farms. Colostrum pooling – insufficient research is available about the effect of pooling on colostrum quality. It has been discussed that higher yielding cows with low antibody colostrum could potentially dilute colostrum quality when pooled. The disease risks are known for pooling colostrum with regards to Johnes and calf diarrhoea meaning we do not recommend.
• Breed – A small research study found antibody levels were higher in Jersey and Ayshire colostrum than Holstein colostrum.
• Age of dam – it is common practice to not use colostrum from 1st-lactation cows. Several studies have found no significant difference in colostrum quality between 1st and 2nd lactation cows. Cows in the 3rd lactation and greater generally produce colostrum with the highest antibody levels.
• Dry period nutrition – dry cow nutrition can affect colostrum antibody content however research has shown this is not commonly the case unless nutrition is severely restricted.
• Volume of colostrum produced at first milking – a 1991 research project observed that cows producing less than 8.5kg of colostrum had a higher colostrum antibody concentration. More recent research has found no significant relationship between volume of colostrum produced at first milking and colostrum antibody concentration.

If you would like to test the quality of colostrum on your farm, test antibodies in the calves or discuss colostrum management on farm then please speak to one of our vets.