Minimizing Bacteria Replication
So last month I focused on Colostrum and the importance of IgG’s. I am going to go a step further and discuss the bacteria load and the importance of minimizing the bacteria replication.
The importance of early feeding of colostrum to the young calf is critical to protecting the gut of the calf as well as providing immune protection. But, there is another reason to feed colostrum early. Delayed colostrum feeding when the colostrum has been milked from the cow means that the bacteria and other pathogens in colostrum will be allowed to grow. Referencing the growth of bacteria research from University of California, Davis showed that when colostrum was left at room temperature for any period of time the growth of bacteria was overwhelming. Within 6 hours, the number of bacteria in the colostrum well exceeded 10 million per milliliter. Our goal is under 10,000. This amount of bacteria fed to the calf will untimely affect the health of the calf significantly or even cause death. This is where the importance of IgG’s and either feeding the colostrum ASAP or chilling/freezing the colostrum comes into play. All of the steps within the first 2-4 hours after birth are very critical. I always tell producers; You only get this chance ONCE and then it’s gone. SO do it well.
Colostrum and other milk products are excellent growth media for bacteria. Unless the cow calves with mastitis or another infection, there should be little contamination of colostrum. Be sure to minimize contamination of milk from the cow by using clean milking equipment, collection equipment, and feeding equipment. If your colostrum is sitting more than one hour consider pasteurizing your colostrum milk. When pasteurizing colostrum, the steps before and after are just as critical as the proper feeding of the calf.
Check out our user friendly, easy to use: First Nurse Colostrum Pasteurizer/Warmer to help with your colostrum pasteurizing needs.
