Colostrum and Drinking Water: Two Essential Elements for Your Calf

Colostrum and Drinking Water:
The Essential Elements for Your Calf

A healthy growth of your livestock starts with correct and balanced nutrition from the earliest age.

In the first phase of life, the calf is not immunocompetent, making the timely administration of colostrum crucial for its immunity.

It is the only way to provide immunoglobulins to the calf, as the bovine placenta does not allow their transfer to the fetus.
To improve colostrum quality, it is important to vaccinate the cow in the 9th month of pregnancy against Rota-Coronavirus and Colibacillosis.

How to Measure Colostrum Quality?

Using a colostrometer, you can monitor the concentration of immunoglobulins.

High-quality colostrum should have a Brix value above 22°. The higher the immunoglobulin concentration, the more effective the colostrum administration.

To ensure the calf receives the right amount of nutrients, it is useful to have a colostrum bank where it can be frozen and administered as needed.

Divide it into small portions for better preservation.

The ideal storage temperature is -20°C.

The administration temperature to the calf is critical: it should not be below 40°C or above 50°C.

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Another equally important element for proper calf nutrition is drinking water.

Often underestimated, it is actually the environment where rumen bacterial growth occurs, since it remains unchanged until the calf consumes water and feed. For this reason, milk alone, which passes only through the abomasum, is not sufficient for the development of protozoa and bacterial flora.

Ensuring water availability during calf weaning significantly increases feed intake and improves growth performance during the first 4 weeks of life.

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