COLOSTRUM REPLACEMENT PRODUCTS FOR CALVES

摘要

Due to the cotyledonary placenta, the bovine fetus does not receive immunglobulins in utero. Calves are born immunocompetent, yet immuno-nai've, and require ingestion of immunoglobulin in colostrum for passive transfer of maternally derived antibodies. Failure of passive transfer (FPT) has long been known to be a risk for increased morbidity and mortality for large animal species. For calves, FPT has also been linked to decreased production, which can diminish their lifespan and economic output. Thesolution to minimize risk of FPT seems simple by feeding adequate amounts of clean, good quality colostrum to a calf. However, in reality, there are many critical control points in the standard operating procedures on a farm or ranch that can lead to a calf not receiving adequate amounts of IgG for effective immunity against environmental and infectious microbial pathogens. The estimated prevalence of FPT on US dairies has been reported to be 19.2% in 2009, which is a drastic improvement from 40% in 1993.1,2 In 2009, from the 2007 USDA National Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS) survey data, the greatest increase in odds of FPT were from: lack of monitoring of serum proteins (xl3.8), >4 hours of life when receiving colostrum (x2.7), dystocia without assistance of a veterinarian (x2.6), allowing the calf (dairy) to nurse (x2.4), feeding pooled colostrum (x2.2), and lack of additional heat for calves experiencing dystocia in cold weather (xl.6).1 Lack of supply of clean, good quality colostrum canbe due to multiple reasons as commonly seen on farms with Johne's disease control programs or decreased availability of labor during the 2nd and 3rd shifts. To fill the gap on these farms to minimize FPT, colostrum replacement products have been commercially available for approximately the past 20 years. This talk will focus on the types of colostrum replacement products available and the published data reviewing their appropriate use on farms.