Longer time administration of colostrum when calves had diarrhea decreased calves died, decreased days to resolution of diarrhea, and increased daily gain
By DR. AL KERTZ, ANDHIL
According to the most recent NAHMS (2014) report, preweaned heifer calves had a 23.9% incidence of diarrhea and 12.4% respiratory incidence. And before weaning, the main death loss is due 57% to diarrhea and 23% to respiratory incidence. Several years ago, a group at the University of Illinois (Kertz 2020, Morrison et al., 2019), summarized prior studies done there and found that calves with diarrhea had lower starter intake and daily gain. More recently, Schinwald et al., (2022, Kertz,. 2022) found that of male Holstein calves at a commercial veal facility 16% had diarrhea within the first 28 days after arrival, and 6.7% had severe diarrhea. Diarrhea negatively impacted daily gain. Diarrhea is most likely due to calf contamination at calving from the cow and environment, and/or to poor colostrum administration and contamination.
When calves get diarrhea, the most common treatment is to feed an electrolyte solution. Calves may also be treated with an antibiotic. Given the composition of colostrum, including some antibacterial activity (lacroferrin, lactoperoxidase, and lysozymes), a study was done at the University of Guelph (Carter et al., 2022) to evaluate the use of colostrum rather than with an antibiotic to treat diarrhea.
Since calves were sourced from auctions, drovers, and local dairy producers thy ewer estimated to be 3 to 7 days old . Two batches of 80 calves were used in June and July 2021; they arrived 21 days apart and were housed in rooms with 80 individual 1 meter square pens with slatted partitions and rubber flooring. From days 0 to 20, calves were fed 2.5 L of milk replacer (MR 26% CP and 20% fat) at a concentration of 13 %. Between days 21 and 27, the milk allowance was increased to 3 L of MR twice daily. On day 28, MR was increased again to 3.5 L of MR twice daily. From day 35 to 41, MR was decreased to 3 L twice daily. From days 42 to 49, MR was decreased again, with calves receiving 2 L twice daily, and from days 49 to 55 calves were fed 2 L of MR only once per day. Calves had ad libitum access to a texturized calf starter (18% CP, 26.5% starch, 17.3% NDF, 3.6% crude fat, and 5.6% ash), chopped straw and water throughout the 56 day study.
Two observers were responsible for performing daily health evaluations and enrolling, feeding, and weighing the calves. The observers and producer were blinded to the treatment groups. Calves were scored for fecal consistency twice daily on a 4-point scale: 0 = normal (firm but not hard); 1 = soft (does not hold form, piles but spreads slightly); 2 = runny (spreads readily); and 3 = watery (liquid consistency, splatters). Calves were enrolled from day 2 to 21 after arrival when they had 2 consecutive fecal scores of 2, or one fecal score of 3. During the first 48 hours (0 and 1 day) after arrival to the facility, calves were not eligible for enrollment to eliminate diarrhea that may have been caused due to stress associated with transportation. Calves were then randomly allocated to receive one of the following 3 treatments: (1) control (CON): 8 feedings over 4 days of 2.5 L of MR (Table 1); (2) Short-term colostrum supplementation (STC): 4 feedings over the first 2 days of 2.5 L of a mixture of MR at 65 g/L and bovine colostrum replacer (26% IG)) at 65 g/L (Table 1) followed by 4 feedings over 2 days of 2.5 L MR; or (3) long-term colostrum supplementation (LTC): 8 feedings over 4 days of 2.5 L of a mixture of MR at 65 g/L and bovine colostrum replacer at 65 g/L. Moreover, calves were fed a dose of 2 L at 115 g/L of electrolytes when a refusal of over 25% was recorded. signs of dehydration (sunken eyes, prolonged skin tent, or change in attitude) appeared.
Of 160 male calves which were brought in for this study, 35 calves were on both CON and STC treatments, and 38 on LTC treatment. Some key values for calves were:
38% sourced from producers, 37% from auctions, and 25% from drovers
IgG averaged 19.6 ± 11.33 g/L with 32% fair (10-17.9 g/L) followed by 29% excellent (> 25 g/L), 21% poor (< 10g/L), and 18% good (18-24.9 g/L).
Body weights averaged 115 ± 11 lb with arrange of 92 to 141 lb
Half of calves with 2 consecutive fecal scores of 2 and half were enrolled with a fecal score of 3
Rotavirus was the most common rotavirus at 40%, and followed by 26% Cryptosporidium parvium, 21% coronavirus, and 13% with E. Coli.
Half (48%) of the calves had 2 pathogens identified, 30% had 3 pathogens identified,14% one pathogens, and 8% had none identified.
Differences noted were (Table 2):
The median days for resolution of an abnormal fecal score was 3.5 days (range = 0.5–11.5), 2.75 days (range = 0.5–11), and 2.75 days (range = 0.5–7) in the CON, STC, and LTC groups, respectively.
“BW at enrollment (P = 0.05), days to enrollment following facility arrival (P = 0.001), severity of diarrhea (P = 0.11), and the number of pathogens detected at enrollment in fecal samples (P = 0.18) were significant in univariable analysis.”
“In the final multivariable model, treatment group, severity of diarrhea, BW at enrollment, days to enrollment following arrival, and the number of pathogens identified were significant. Specifically, calves enrolled into the LTC colostrum group resolved faster compared with calves in the CON.”
Of 108 calves, 44 (41%) were treated for diarrhea with antimicrobials. Calves on STC (short term colostrum) had the most treatment at 39% (17/44) followed by 34% (15/44) of the CON (control) group, and 27% of the LTC (long term colostrum) group.
The incidence of calves treated by antimicrobials for respiratory disease was the same for all treatments.
8 calves died during the study with 5 on CON, 3 on STC, and none on LTC treatments.
Average daily gain for th 45 day study were CON 1.76 ± 0.40 lb/day with 1.63 ± 0.45 lb/day for CON, and 1.98 ± 0.42 lb/day for :LTC.
The Bottom Line
Longer time administration of colostrum when calves had diarrhea decreased calves died, decreased days to resolution of diarrhea, and increased daily gain compared to control and short term colostrum administration. These results would likely have long term benefits too.
References
Carter, H. M. S, M. A. Steele, J. H. C. Costa, and D. L. Renaud. 2022. Evaluating the effectiveness of colostrum as therapy for diarrhea in preweaned calves. J. Dairy Sci. 106:
Kertz, A. F. 2020. Diarrhea in calves has relationship to starter intake, daily gain. Feedstuffs. July 1, 2020, p. 20-21.
Kertz, A. F. 2022. Diarrhea in male veal calves. Feedstuffs 365, November 15, 2022.
Morrison, S.Y., P.A. LaPierre, K.N. Brost and J.K. Drackley. 2019. Intake and growth in transporting imported Holstein calves classified as diarrheic or healthy within the first 21 days after arrival in a retrospective observational study. J. Dairy Sci. 102:10997-11008.
National Animal Health Monitoring System. Dairy 2014. Dairy Cattle Management Practices in the United Sates. United States Dept. of Agric., Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service, Veterinary Services, February 2016, Fort Collins, CO. https://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/nahms/dairy/downloads/dairy14/Dairy14_dr_Mastitis.pdf
Schinwald, M., K. Creutzinger, A. Keunen, C. B. Winder, D. Haley, and D. L. Renaud1. 2022. Predictors of diarrhea, mortality, and weight gain in male dairy calves. J. Dairy Sci. 105:5296-5309.
View our interview with Dr. Al Kertz on this topic.
