The addition of colostrum replaced to milk replacer for seven day prior to full weaning may hold some benefit for dairy calves.
January 9, 2025
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There are 3 critical periods for a calf; around calving which includes colostrum, feeding and management, the first 2 weeks of life when most health issues and deaths occur. And the weaning transition which is 2 weeks before full weaning and 2 weeks after full weaning (Kertz 2019). And the second critical period is heavily related to the first critical period. There has been much progress made in addressing the first two critical periods, but progress in the last critical period lags. Much of this is related to the quality and physical form of the starter (Ghaffari and Kertz 2021), its adequate intake over enough time for functional rumen development, and too many changes at once. A novel approach to addressing the latter category was to feed a colostrum replacer (CR) during the time before full weaning (Edwards et al., 2024).
This calf trial was conducted at a single commercial dairy farm in southwestern Ontario from January 7 to April 26, 2023. All calves enrolled were Holstein female and fed 4 liters of thawed bovine colostrum with at least 25% Brix by esophageal feeder within the first 12 hours of life, with a second feeding of 4 liters fed by esophageal feeder within 12 hours after the first feeding. Calves were moved to individual pens (2.0 square meters) in an indoor facility shortly after birth where they remained until 70 days of age before moving into group pens. Calves were fed a commercial milk replacer (MR 23.2% CP, 18.9% crude fat, and 49.7% lactose of DM) at 15% solids by a robotic rail feeding system and received 3 equal feedings of MR daily at 0500, 1300, and 2100 hours.
Calves were fed MR 3 times daily at 9 liters daily from days 1–7, 10.5 liters daily from 8–14, 11.25 liters daily from 15–21, and 12 liters daily from 22–56 days. Weaning began at day 57 and calves were weaned over 8 days in a step-down manner. From days 57–60, calves received 3.8 liters by nipple bottle at 09:00 and 4 liters at 21:00 by robotic feeder for a total of 7.8 liters daily. From days 61–64, calves were fed 3.8 liters at 0900 hours by nipple bottle.
Calves were also offered ad libitum pelleted calf starter (21% CP, 25% starch, 4.5% crude fiber, and 3.5% crude fat) and water from one day of age.
At the beginning of weaning at 57 days, calves were blocked by birth weight (< 92.5 lb or > 92.5 lb) and assigned to one of two treatments: control (n = 31 calves): 3.8 liters MR (15% solids) fed by nipple bottle with no CR supplementation or CR supplementation (n = 34) a mixture of 1 liter CR at 12.5% solids (16.4 g IgG) and 3 liters MR at 15% solids, with 3.8 liter of the mixture fed by nipple bottle.
To ensure homogeneity of the CR treatment, the total required volumes of CR and MR were blended in a larger pail and then dispensed into each 3.8 liter nipple bottle, to deliver a total of 119 g of CR per calf. Both treatments were similar in metabolizable energy (ME) of 29.26 Mcal. All calves remained in individual pens until 70 days of age then moved to a group pen until 84 days of age. Each group pen consisted of both treatments of calves, with group sizes ranging from 10 to 12 animals, with 5.3 to 6.4 square meters of space per calf.
Results are depicted in 2 figures and discussed:
Figure 1 shows similar starter intake until weaning at day 64 with CR being fed from weaning transition days 57-64. There was some inconsistent separation in starter intake from days 64 to 70.
Weaning began at day 57 and followed a step down protocol. Note the incline of starter intake during this weaning transition period, and the further increase in rate of daily starter intake after day 64.
Starter intake is quite variable as are many parameters for young calves. That is why large number of calves per treatment are needed for calf studies (Kertz and Chester-Jones 2004). And there should always be another 2 weeks after full weaning to measure potential carry-over effects.
Figure 2 shows similar body weights until some separation after weaning from days 64 to 70; and especially after grouping of calves following day 70 to 84.
Not shown is that blood values for serum IgG and total protein as well as birth and 57 day body weights were the same for both sets of calves prior to addition of the CR treatment.
Likewise, there were no differences in beta-hydroxy butyrate serum values at days 57, 64, and 70 between control and CR treatments.
Not shown, there were no differences between control and CR treatments in intestinal permeability measurements at days 56 and 65.
There are several potential confounding and other factors in this study:
MR feeding levels were relatively high with a total of 95.25 lb fed over 57 days for an average of 1.67 lb per day. This was the upper limit for avoiding negative effects on intake and digestion post weaning (Hill et al., 2011.) when a peak of 1.8 lb daily was fed during days 22 to 56.
The starter was all pelleted and no hay seemed to have been fed with it. That means that functional rumen development was likely limited. Physical form of starter affects its intake and performance (Ghaffari and Kertz 2021).
The starter in Hill et al., (2011) was well-texturized but the starter in this study was all pelleted.
There are a number of factors that affect how well calves go through weaning transition and post weaning performance (Drackley 2024). The less these factors play the better calves will do better during weaning and postweaning. The simplest and best one to minimize is by using a well-texturized starter.
The Bottom Line
`There was some possible benefit to using a colostrum replacer added to milk replacer for 7 days prior to full weaning, but the most likely limiting factor was using only an all pelleted starter with no hay being fed also.
References
Drackley, J. K. 2024. The weaning transitions in dairy calves. Why so traumatic? Appl; Anim. Sci. Abstract # 1152. J. Dairy Sci.
Edwards, K. Y., S M. Bell, S. J. LeBlanc, T. J. DeVries, M. A. Steele, J. H. C. Costa, and D. L. Renaud. 2024. Evaluation of bovine colostrum replacer supplementation to improve weaning transition in Holstein dairy calves. J. Dairy Sci.
Ghaffari, M, and A, F, Kertz. 2021. Review: Effects of different forms of calf starters on feed intake and growth rate: A systematic review and Bayesian meta-analysis of studies from 1938 to 2021. Appl. Anim. Sci. 37:273–293.
Hill, T. M., J. D. Quigley, H. G. Bateman, H. F. X. Suarez-Mena, T. S, Dennis, and R. L. Schlotterbeck. 2016. Effects of milk replacer program on calf performance and digestion of nutrients in dairy calves to4 months of age. J. Dairy Sci. 99:8103-8110.
Kertz, A. F. and H. Chester-Jones. 2004. Guidelines for measuring and reporting calf and heifer experimental data. J. Dairy Sci. 87:3577-3580.
Kertz, Alois F. Dairy Calf and Heifer Feeding and Management—Some Key Conceptsand Practices. Outskirts Press, July 31, 2019, 166 pages. https://o utskirtspress.com/dairycalfandheiferfeedingandmanagement
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