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Calf Mortality Is Associated with Individual Colostrum Quality and Calf Serum Refractometer Values on Commercial Dairy Farms
Sharir B. and Van Straten M.
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Objectives: Monitoring colostrum quality and failure of passive transfer (FPt ) on commercial dairy farms may assist in preventing newborn disease and mortality occurring from 24 h after birth to weaning. commercial colostrometers and calf serum refractometers are two “calf-side” tests used for measuring these values. our objective was to identify and quantify associations between calf mortality occurring 24 h after birth and later and individual colostrum quality and calf serum refractometer values.
Materials and Methods: A one year long prospective study was carried out in five Israeli commercial dairy herds. E xperimental unit was calf and a total of 539 observations were included. colostrum quality was determined using a commercial colostrometer. all calves were bled 30-36 h post calving and blood samples were tested for globulin concentration using a temperature corrected refractometer as an indirect measure for efficiency of passive immunity transfer. data were analyzed using t-tests and chi-square for simple comparisons, and logistic regression for multivariable analysis.
Results: calf mortality > 24 h after calving occurred in two of the five farms. Mortality was greater in male calves 12/230 (5.2%) than in female calves 6/300 (2.0%) (P = 0.074). calf mortality in calves born during the summer months was 7.95% vs. 2.44% in calves not born during these months (P = 0.021). using data from all farms, refractometer values of calves that died and of those that were weaned were 5.86 and 7.13 g/dl, respectively (P < 0.001). on the two farms with calf mortality, refractometer values of calves that died and of those that were weaned where 5.86 and 6.73 g/dl, respectively (P=0.0028). on the latter farms, an increase in one refractometer value was associated with a decrease of 52% in the odds for death (P = 0.001). refractometer values on farms without calf mortality and with calf mortality were 7.47 and 6.67 g/dl, respectively (P = 0.001).
Conclusions: Male calves were at greater risk of mortality possibly due to body-size, gestation length, or both. ranking colostrum quality and using only good quality colostrum could result in reduced calf mortality due to improved passive absorption. Poor colostrum quality and inadequate globulin absorption found in the farms that experienced calf mortality stress the great importance of proper colostrum management and care of the newborn.
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Affiliation of the authors at the time of publication
Hachaklait” Veterinary Services, Israel
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