Planning For A Good Calving Season

[oldtimer]

Planning For A Good Calving Season
FYI:

With nearly 90% of fetal growth occurring in the last three months of the cow's pregnancy, we look at body condition score as one of the best measures of how the cow will perform during calving, but late-gestation cow nutrition is important for the health of the newborn calf, too, because the nutrition of the cow impacts the eventual calf's immune status and survivability.

In cattle, the survival of the calf is dependent on its receiving high-quality colostrum within the first 24 hours of life, because the structure of the placenta prevents the fetus from receiving immunoglobulins (IgG) in utero. This is very different from most species, such as humans, which receive IgG across the placenta, and are born with the ability to mount an immune response to pathogens. As a result, newborn calves can't fight a bacterial or viral challenge until they have acquired passive immunity through the IgG in colostrum. The IgG are a specialized form of antibodies, gamma globulin proteins, that fight bacterial and viral infections by binding to pathogens and neutralizing them. With cattle, the newborn calf's small intestine can only absorb IgG during the first 24 hours of life. Furthermore, within the first 24 hours of life, the timing of the calf receiving colostrum is critical as the ability to absorb IgG from the small intestine starts to decline after the first 6 hours, and is essentially stopped after 24 hours (Rogers and Capucille, 2000). Therefore, for optimum immunity, the calf needs to nurse well within the first 6 hours. With first-calf heifers, this timing is an important management issue, as heifers that don't let their newborn calves nurse immediately are in a much greater danger of losing them, or having them get sick.

Source:
http://www.cattlenetwork.com/New-Yea...N-LATEST_NEWS_

Although I don’t totally agree with it, this article should be read in its entirety as there is much good info in it.

Here is what I always keep in my bag of trick for calves who may need colostrum.

Tractor Supply. Item: 2208638 http://www.tractorsupply.com/

Colostrx® Plus provides 55 grams of globulin protein and other essential nutrients to supplement maternal colostrum
Add one package (454 grams) to 1.5 quarts of lukewarm water or colostrum and stir until mixed
Administer as a first feeding within 6 hours of birth, then follow normal feeding program
Follow label directions
Colostrx Plus® is a product designed to supplement cow's colostrum when the calf is unable to suckle the dam or colostrum is unavailable or of poor quality

Price: $12.99