This season, we had a few farms do passive transfer (PT) testing on their calves to check for absorption of immunoglobulin from colostrum. Below is a quick comparison of the results:
From these results, we can see that all farms had some calves that did not receive full PT, as well as some that did receive adequate antibodies. Averages ranged from partial to good coverage.
It is important in a calf’s development that we give it the best start possible, and a functioning immune system is vital for that.
Perhaps give your calf rearers a chance to recap on this season and then let's have a think about how we could improve these results next year.
The best way to improve PT is improving how you deliver the 5 Q’s of colostrum:
Quality: >22 on a refractometer.
Quickly: Antibody absorption decreases with time after calving.
Quantity: Aim for 10% of the calf’s body weight in that first 4 hours.
SQueaky clean: Good hygiene lowers the number of pathogens the newborn calf must face.
Quantify: Routinely evaluating farm data is essential to keep colostrum management in-check.
If you would like to compare your farm’s PT values to other local farms, then please book us in for some testing next spring. We often do this at the same time as the first lot of disbudding.
