Evaluation of factors associated with immunoglobulin G, fat, protein, and lactose concentrations in bovine colostrum and colostrum management practices in grassland-based dairy systems in Northern Ireland

The objectives of this study were to investigate colostrum feeding practices and colostrum quality on commercial grassland-based dairy farms, and to identify factors associated with colostrum quality that could help inform the development of colostrum management protocols. Over 1 yr, background info...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of dairy science 2017-03, Vol.100 (3), p.2068-2079
Main Authors: Dunn, A., Ashfield, A., Earley, B., Welsh, M., Gordon, A., Morrison, S.J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Animals, Newborn
bacteria
bacterial contamination
calves
calving
Cattle
colostrum
Colostrum - metabolism
cow colostrum
cows
dairy
dairy farming
farms
Female
Grassland
guidelines
immunoglobulin
immunoglobulin G
Immunoglobulin G - metabolism
industry
Lactose
multivariate analysis
Northern Ireland
nutrition
nutritive value
plate count
somatic cell count
vaccination
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Summary:The objectives of this study were to investigate colostrum feeding practices and colostrum quality on commercial grassland-based dairy farms, and to identify factors associated with colostrum quality that could help inform the development of colostrum management protocols. Over 1 yr, background information associated with dairy calvings and colostrum management practices were recorded on 21 commercial dairy farms. Colostrum samples (n = 1,239) were analyzed for fat, protein, lactose, and IgG concentration. A subset was analyzed for somatic cell count and total viable bacteria count. Factors associated with nutritional and IgG concentrations were determined using both univariate and multivariate models. This study found that 51% of calves were administered their first feed of colostrum via esophageal tube, and the majority of calves (80%) were fed >2 L of colostrum at their first feed (mean = 2.9 L, SD = 0.79), at a mean time of 3.2 h (SD 4.36) after birth, but this ranged across farms. The mean colostral fat, protein, and lactose percentages and IgG concentrations were 6.4%, 14%, 2.7%, and 55 mg/mL, respectively. The mean somatic cell count and total viable count were 6.3 log10 and 6.1 log10, respectively. Overall, 44% of colostrum samples contained
ISSN:0022-0302
1525-3198
DOI:10.3168/jds.2016-11724