Get access to all handy features included in the IVIS website
- Get unlimited access to books, proceedings and journals.
- Get access to a global catalogue of meetings, on-site and online courses, webinars and educational videos.
- Bookmark your favorite articles in My Library for future reading.
- Save future meetings and courses in My Calendar and My e-Learning.
- Ask authors questions and read what others have to say.
Iron deficiency anemia in whole milk fed calves
Allan, J.; Plate, P.; Van Winden, S...
Get access to all handy features included in the IVIS website
- Get unlimited access to books, proceedings and journals.
- Get access to a global catalogue of meetings, on-site and online courses, webinars and educational videos.
- Bookmark your favorite articles in My Library for future reading.
- Save future meetings and courses in My Calendar and My e-Learning.
- Ask authors questions and read what others have to say.
Read
Objectives: This is one of the first studies to assess the prevalence of iron deficiency anemia in whole milk fed dairy calves on farms in the United Kingdom and the effect of a single parenteral iron supplementation on haemoglobin (Hb) levels and daily liveweight gain (DLWG).
Materials and methods: 268 whole milk fed dairy calves from seven farms in the south of England were recruited in the study. Six of the farms were organic, one was non-organic. All calves were blood sampled for total protein and Hb levels and weighed from one to ten days after birth. They were then randomly assigned to either receive or not receive 1 gram of iron as iron dextrane (UniferonTM, Virbac Animal Health) by intra-muscular injection immediately after thist first blood sampling and weighing. Calves were again weighed and blood sampled for Hb at around six weeks of age and weighed only at around 12 weeks of age. Hb levels and DLWG were compared between treated and untreated animals.
Results: There were no reported adverse effects to the iron injection in any of the treated calves.
Parenteral iron dextran had a significant effect on DLWG from one to six weeks with an average 52g per day increase in the treated calves compared to the control group. Iron had a significant effect on Hb concentrations at six weeks and the difference between Hb at week one and week six, with calves in the treated group having a higher average Hb concentration than calves in the control group (112.2 vs 97.0g/l). Over that period Hb levels in the treated group increased by 4.5 g/l while levels in the control group decreased by 10.1 g/l. Calves with higher DLWG and calves in the control group were significantly more likely to have Hb levels below 90 g/l at six weeks: 35 % of calves in the control group (42 out of 120) and 3.4 % of the treated group (4 out of 118) showed Hb values below this level.
There was farm variation in both Hb levels and DLWG differences between groups. The size of the effect on DLWG could not be predicted for any particular farm from either Hb measurement at week one or six.
However, there was a consistent effect of iron across all farms, suggesting a generalized finding.
Conclusion: The current industry recommendations are to feed higher volumes of milk for longer to achieve higher growth rates. On a significant proportion of organic and non-organic farms in the United Kingdom whole milk is fed to to dairy replacement calves, and iron supplementation should be considered in these calves.
Keywords: Calves, anemia, iron, whole milk.
Get access to all handy features included in the IVIS website
- Get unlimited access to books, proceedings and journals.
- Get access to a global catalogue of meetings, on-site and online courses, webinars and educational videos.
- Bookmark your favorite articles in My Library for future reading.
- Save future meetings and courses in My Calendar and My e-Learning.
- Ask authors questions and read what others have to say.
About
Affiliation of the authors at the time of publication
Royal Veterinary College, London, United Kingdom
Comments (0)
Ask the author
0 comments