Farm Horizons
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April 4
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Page 5
Photo by Starrla Cray
Dr. Max Thornsberry spoke about calf immunology at the 2016 Carver County Dairy Expo in Norwood Young America.
According to the Bovine Alliance on Management
and Nutrition, “a significant portion of calf mortality on
US dairy farms could be prevented by proper colostrum
feeding and management.”
If fresh colostrum isn’t an option, frozen can work
well, too, according to Thornsberry. Colostrum can be
stored in 1-gallon plastic re-sealable bags. When it’s
time to use, the bag can be thawed for 15 to 20 minutes
in a 5-gallon pail of warm water. The water should not
be too hot, because temperatures above 140 degrees F
will degrade the quality.
Thornsberry doesn’t recommend storing colostrum in
a refrigerator, because temperatures above freezing can
lead to pathogen growth, inhibiting a calf’s ability to
absorb the antibodies.
Another alternative to fresh colostrum is milk replacer
made from bovine plasma. Thornsberry said this product contains many of the bene