Colostrum has been proven to be one of the best resources a dairy producer can provide for their future herd. By feeding one gallon of high-quality colostrum within one hour of birth, a calf can receive the nutrients and immunoglobulins it needs to get off to a healthy start. Yet many times this precious fluid is exposed to a number of bacteria before it reaches the calf, and instead of boosting a calf’s immune system, the antibodies are immediately needed to fight off diseases introduced in the same feeding.

Veterinarian Rick Dumm has been involved in the dairy industry for nearly 20 years. He’s noticed that many dairies will harvest colostrum in less-than-ideal conditions. Cooling is often attempted with colostrum inside calf bottles or, worse yet, in 5-gallon buckets placed in standard refrigerators or freezers. The colostrum must then be transferred into feeding bottles and thawed/reheated before offering it to the calf.

“There are about six steps where gross contamination of the colostrum can occur,” Dumm says. “That slow cooling process in the 5-gallon buckets allows such phenomenal growth of bacteria that it is a surprise there are not more sick calves.”

He adds, “Keep in mind that these calving cows are the most stressed animals on the dairy. If they have a pathogen on board, it is likely that they are shedding into the colostrum.”

While pasteurization is now available, it is not yet widely used on the majority of dairies. Even so, pasteurized colostrum may be transferred from one container to another before feeding, allowing for recontamination.

Seeing the potential for problems, Dumm and his colleagues at Dairy Tech Inc. researched every conceivable type of container in hopes of developing a system that could handle colostrum from harvest to feeding. They placed thermocouples inside the core of each container to determine if they could pasteurize the colostrum effectively by immersing the container into a water bath.

“Everything failed and common calf bottles were the worst,” he says. “The contents never got close to pasteurization temperatures.”

They determined the answer would be found only in a heat-conducting vessel, but wanted to avoid a solid container for two important reasons: 1) they are costly to produce and 2) they represent the same cleaning challenges of existing bottles and nipples.

Dumm found the solution in disposable, yet rugged, Perfect Udder colostrum bags created by Dairy Tech, Inc. This 3-quart bag (4-quart coming soon) has a special aluminum layer that allows for incredible heat transfer. Also, since the bag is able to conform and move with water currents, the contents inside are able to heat rapidly and effectively to reach the proper pasteurization temperature of 140˚F for 60 minutes.

The bags are designed so that raw colostrum can be placed inside using a funnel or specially designed milk pail and then pasteurized, stored, frozen, reheated and fed without ever being at risk for recontamination. An alternative usage is to batch pasteurize the colostrum and fill the bags from the pasteurizer before storing.

“We’re not seeing recontamination,” says Dumm, who has cultured colostrum from the bags as it is being fed. “A lot of contamination happens in the transfer, and we’ve eliminated all of those potential paths.”

The design also allows for rapid cooling which prevents re-growth of spoilage bacteria that are not killed during pasteurization. In factory testing, the 3 quarts inside the bag will heat and cool twice as fast as 2 quarts inside a typical calf bottle, all due to the heat transfer obtained through the aluminum bag.

To take the system a step further, Dumm designed a nipple and esophageal feeding system that will attach directly to the colostrum bag so that the colostrum could go from the pasteurizer to the calf without ever having to enter another vessel. The kits are sold as 50- and 100-bag count and come with five or 10 nipple assemblies respectively, and also include the esophageal feeder. The bags are single-use, and the nipples are intended to be used only 10 times and then recycled to avoid bacterial buildup that often occurs with worn nipples after many uses, he says.

Dairyman Dale Klassen of Hillsboro, Kansas, has been using the colostrum bags for about three months now on all calves born in his 300-cow herd.

He purchased the colostrum bags along with a new pasteurizer for the farm. Previously he was feeding unpasteurized colostrum and waste milk to calves. He says he expects to see the real benefit when these calves get to be 3 or 4 years old and have fewer disease problems in the milking string. For now Klassen says he thinks he’s seeing fewer treatments in small calves. He has only treated two calves for scours this winter, and the overall calf health is pretty good considering the moisture they’ve had in Kansas in 2009.

“It’s been a good investment for me. A year from now I’ll have a much better understanding of how good,” he says.

After the initial learning curve to the change in colostrum harvesting and storage procedure, Klassen says labor requirements have gone down compared to the old system. The convenience of the bags has really helped.

“When you’re done, you just chuck the bag away and rinse out the nipple or tube,” he says.

The one downside Klassen has found is that it takes longer to thaw the frozen bag because he has to wait for the entire bag to thaw at once. He used to start thawing a gallon and then feed half of it as soon as it was ready. He then came back for the second portion that thawed while he was away with the first.

The colostrum bags cost around $1 each. Dumm says that is easily justified when a good, clean dose of colostrum delivered on time has been found to provide an 1,800-pound increase in milk production in a cow’s first year of lactation.  PD

Ask yourself:

1. Do you feed colostrum to your calves at birth?

2. Do you have issues with sick calves less than 1 week old that are not easily explained or difficult to zero in on a diagnosis?

3. Do you currently pasteurize or have interest in pasteurizing colostrum to improve biosecurity for your herd replacements?

4. Do you have a batch pasteurizer with adjustable temperature and time settings?

5. Is cooling or freezing of colostrum handled ideally on your dairy?

6. Do all of your employees realize the importance of colostrum management for the future health of the calves born?

7. If colostrum is stored in 2-quart bottles, do your employees take the time to administer a second dose or would a 3- or 4-quart container make this simpler?

8. Do employees thaw colostrum in a bucket of very hot water? (Temperatures over 140˚F will harm the immunoglobulins and render them less effective.)

9. Are calf bottles and nipples as clean as you would prefer for the calf’s first meal?

10. Is there room for improvement in your calf health protocols?

If you answered yes to seven or more of these questions, this technology may be one for you to consider.

	Karen Lee Midwest Editor This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it