We need to now figure out how to best feed the first 3 days of cow transition milk to calves
By Al Kertz, PhD, PAS, DIPL ACANANDHIL LLC
Transition milk is typically defined as milk from a cow for 3 days after calving following the first milking of colostrum. In the United States (US) dairy industry in the 1970s, it was recommended and fairly well practiced that calves be fed colostrum and transition milk for the first 3 days of life. The main reason was that transition milk did not meet the legal definition for dairy farms to sell that milk. That gradually began to change as US dairy farms got larger. Transition milk was then either put into the bulk tank where it did not really have any impact on composition of milk sold, or it was combined with “hospital” milk which now is often pasteurized and fed to calves.
At the 2006 American Dairy Science Association (ADSA) conference in Minneapolis, a speaker presented some unique findings in their human milk studies. Using analytical equipment which could detect a wide range of components, they were surprised and puzzled to find very minute quantities of complex carbohydrates (oligosaccharides). These carbohydrates are not digestible by human infants, so they were puzzled why they were in human milk? Later, they figured it out. These carbohydrates were not for infants, but rather for the microbes which became resident in the infant’s gut. In turn, these microbes helped minimize gut disturbances and infections too—and not just in the gut.
Fast forward a few years, and scientists at the Universities of Alberta and Guelph in Canada have been doing similar studies in dairy calves over the last 5 years. Colostrum and transition milk (first 3 days after calving) have an amazing array of components besides protein, fat, lactose, and minerals. Many of the hormones and metabolites shown in the table are anabolic—that is they foster growth and protein deposition. Lactoferrin is also antibacterial. Note the much lower levels of many of these factors in mature milk past the first 3 days after calving.
More recent studies at Michigan State University have shown beneficial effects on growth from feeding transition milk (Van Soest et al, 2019). More recently (Van Soest et al., 2022), calves in this study were fed either transition milk or milk replacer for 4 days following colostrum. Calves fed the transition milk had twice the villus length, villus width, villus to crypt ratio, and mucosal length in all intestinal sections after sacrificing at 5 days. Composition of that transition milk after the first milking of colostrum is shown in the table.
While the table does not show how the many other factors, such as found in human milk, likely also diminish. But the sliding scale down of most other components shown in the table with further milkings indicates there must be enough of those factors in transition milk to have beneficial effects on calves as even those calves fed only milking 4 had similar responses as those fed milkings 2 or 3.
At a 2016 ADSA symposium and later published (Malmuthuge and Guan, 2017), findings suggested that feeding dairy calves colostrum immediately after birth can increased the passive transfer of IgG and the colonization of beneficial bacteria in the colon; both of which are hypothesized to assist in protecting the calf from enteric infections during the pre-weaning period. Findings from another study indicated that the colonizing microbiome is an essential factor regulating the rapid development of the mucosal immune system during the first week of life.
At the 2022 ADSA program, a symposium presentation by a University of Alberta scientist (Guan 2022) indicated the critical roles of gut microbiome in influencing performance and health of pre-weaned calves. And that microbes colonize the calf gut soon after the birth and establish a stable and balanced gut microbiota during early life which can have a life-long impact on their performance. The scientist further stated that the establishment of the calf gut microbiome is a complex process that can be influenced by both host and microbes, together with the environment factors (diet, management, farm, and so on). The microbiota can have direct and indirect impact on the gut function including development and metabolism, nutrition absorption, barrier and immune function, endocrine and neuron transmitter secretions. She commented further that especially in pre-weaned calves this knowledge is still in its infancy; but that more and more evidence has revealed that gut microbiota in pre-weaned calves can be affected by early life nutrition, rearing environment, and their health status and the treatments. Finally, she stated that the metabolic functions of this gut microbiome and how it influences the energy metabolism, growth and development, as well as metabolic and physiologic changes of calves are in its infancy.
Watch our Feedstuffs 365 interview with Dr. Al Kertz on this topic. Interview airs Tuesday, January 17 and will be available in on-demand at www.Feedstuffs365.com
The Bottom Line
So, what does all this mean? Feeding up to 4 quarts of high-quality, uncontaminated colostrum within 4 hours of birth is the minimum first step for newborn calves. We need to now figure out how to best feed the first 3 days of cow transition milk to calves too. Together, these two nutrition sources have multiple components which foster the calf’s gut development, establishment of the best gut microbial populations, and provide the calf’s best and most efficient growth and subsequent lactation performance.
References
Malmuthuge, N. and L. L. Guan. 2017. (Non-Nutrition: The Future of Nutrition? Symposium at the ADSA-ASAS Joint Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, Utah, July 2016). Understanding the gut microbiome of dairy calves: Opportunities to improve early-life gut health. J. Dairy Sci. 100:5996–6005.
Guan, L. 2022. Growth and Development Symposium: Metabolic Derangements in Calves During the Preweaning Period. The role of gut microbiome in metabolic health of pre-weaned calves. #1339 abstract, p. 113, ADSA Annual Meeting, Kansas City, MO June 19-22.
Van Soest, B., F. Cullens, M. VandeHaar, and M. Weber-Neilsen. 2019. Effect of feeding transition milk on growth and health of dairy calves. Abstract T91. 2019 American Dairy Science Association Annual Meeting, Cincinnati, Ohio. June 26-29 T91 J. Dairy Sci. 102, Suppl. 1, p. 209.
Van Soest, B., M. Weber Nielsen, A. J. Moeser, A, Abuelo, and M. J. VandeHaar. 2022. Transition milk stimulates intestinal development of neonatal Holstein calves. J. Dairy Sci. 105:7011-7022.
