Neonatal Care

Front 1

Dairy Calving Location
(4)

Back 1

1) Well ventilated box stall
2) Cleaned (pressure washer/steam cleaner)
3) Disinfected since last calving
4) Bedded with clean straw

Front 2

Beef Calving Location
(2)

Back 2

1) Wind break
2) Trees or 3 sided shed

Front 3

Best Place for Calving
(1)

Back 3

1) Clean, grassy field with low stocking density

Front 4

Dairy Parturition
(6)

Back 4

1) Assist as needed
2) Stimulate to breath by sticking finger or straw up nose
3) Get calf sternal ASAP
4) Dip umbilicus with mild (<2%) tincture of iodine only if still sterile
5) Administer selenium at 0.1 mg/kg SC
6) Remove calf and administer colostrum by bottle of esophageal intubation

Front 5

Beef Parturition
(2)

Back 5

1) Watch calf and see if it nurses within 12 hours
2) Loof for full belly on calf, shiny teats and assymetric udder on cow

Front 6

Colostrum General
(6)

Back 6

1) Feed ASAP after birth
2) Major focus on immunoglobulin mass
3) Need to absorb at least 40 g of IgG
4) Absorption is only 30% efficient
5) Calves nee to be fed at least 150 g of IgG (ideally > 200)
6) Maximal colostral absorption first 8 hours, practically none after 24 hours

Front 7

Dairy Calves Colostrum Administration
(3)

Back 7

1) Don't rely on them to get enough on their own
2) Intubate with esophageal feeder if calves won't suckle within 10 minutes
3) Feed 3 quarts within 2 hours then 2 quarts 12 hours later

Front 8

Colostrum Quality
(6)

Back 8

1) First milking colostrum has 3X more Ig concentration that later milkings
2) Heifer have 25% lower IgG concentration than 3rd or later lactation cows
3) Colostral IgG concentrations increase with lactation numbers
4) Cannot accurately predict colostral IgG concentration by examination of viscosity
5) Colostrometer SG > 1.046 = Ig concentration of 50 to 130 g/L - excellent quality (DONT USE COLOSTROMETER)
6) Feed first milking colostrum (within 2 hours after parturition) and when volume < 10 L and no flakes/chunks are present

Front 9

Colostrum Method of Administration
(4)

Back 9

1) Important
2) Higher absorption efficiency via nipple bottle (esophageal groove closure) than by esophageal feeder (rumen pooling of colostrum)
3) Nipple should be held at level of cows udder (higher = no esophageal groove closure)
4) Mothering by dam increases efficiency of colostral absorption

Front 10

Colostrum Supplements in Dairy Calves
(3)

Back 10

1) Inferior
2) Last resorty when no colostrum available
3) Supplement to colostrum that may be of dubious quality

Front 11

Colostrum Supplements Developed From
(3)

Back 11

1) Dried cheese whey extract
2) Dried colostrum
3) Bovine spray-dried serum products (best products available)

Front 12

Beef Calves Colostrum
(4)

Back 12

1) Focus on watching calf nurse
2) Colostrum usually high quality
3) If calf vigorous and appears to have suckled don't intervene
4) More use of colostrum supplements than in dairy

Front 13

Assessment of Ig Absorption Definitions
(3)

Back 13

1) Serum [IgG] < 500 mg/dL = failure of transfer of passive immunity
2) Serum [IgG] 500-1000 mg/dL = partial failure of transfer of passive immunity
3) Serum [IgG] > 1000 mg/dL = adequate transfer of passive immunity
- only 60% of dairy and >80% of beef have adequate

Front 14

Techniques to Assess Ig Absorption
(3)

Back 14

1) Serum protein concentration
2) Quick Test Calf IgG Kit
3) Serum GGT concentration

Front 15

Serum Protein Concentration
(5)

Back 15

1) Determined by refractometry
2) Average calf has 4 g/dL presuckle
3) FPT <5.2 g/dl; <5.5 g/dl if calf is dehydrated
4) Best screening test
5) Recommended

Front 16

Quick Test Calf IgG Kit
(6)

Back 16

1) Lateral flow immunoassay
2) Wait 10 minutes for serum/plasma
3) Wait 20 minutes for blood
4) 1 line = OK and 2 lines = FPT
5) Excellent but expensive
6) Validated on serum and blood

Front 17

Serum GGT Concentration
(5)

Back 17

1) Determined by automated serum biochemistry
2) High concentration in colostrum
3) Serum concentration decays to normal by 5 weeks of age
4) Not recommended because normal range varies with age
5) Could use < 50 IU/L in first 2 weeks as screening test

Front 18

Dairy Calf Housing
(5)

Back 18

1) Hutches are best (only 30% use them)
2) Individual pens in a separate barn
3) Individual pens in cow barn
4) Group pens in separate barn
5) Group pens in cow barn

Front 19

When is Group Housing Appropriate
(3)

Back 19

1) After weaning
2) Should group on weight
3) Ideally should be all in, all out

Front 20

Dairy Calf Feeding: Milk
(3)

Back 20

1) Milk or equivalent should be fed at 10 to 12% BW/day divided into 2 feedings
2) 95% feed 10% BW divided into 2 feedings
3) Provide fresh, nonfrozen water at all times

Front 21

Dairy Calf Feeding: Colostrum
(3)

Back 21

1) Feed as long as practical but at least for 3 days
2) Lacteal secretions from cows for first 3 days after calving are not marketable as milk
3) Fresh colostrum can be fed with whole milk without inducing health problems

Front 22

Dairy Calf Feeding: Day 4 to 21
(2)

Back 22

1) Feed excess colostrum, fermented colostrum, whole milk or high quality milk replacer
2) Milk byproducts used as protein source rather than soy protein

Front 23

Dairy Calf Feeding: Day 21 and On
(2)

Back 23

1) Continue to feed as before or feed poorer quality milk replacer (high crude fiber)
2) Soy protein should not be fed earlier than 21 days

Front 24

Why Should Soy Protein Not be Fed Before 21 Days?
(2)

Back 24

1) Untreated soy flour contain "anti-nutritional factors" (trypsin inhibitor and hemagglutinins)
2) Calves mount immunological response to soy protein (villous atrophy, increased intestinal permeability and persistent diarrhea)

Front 25

Dairy Calf Feeding: Cold Weather
(1)

Back 25

1) Should increase feeding by 25%

Front 26

Different Feeding Methods for Dairy Calves
(5)

Back 26

1) Milk replacer (70--85%)
2) Colostrum (2-14%)
3) Fermented colostrum or milk (3%)
4) Whole, mastitic, antibioitic treated milk (10%)
5) Concentrate/hay feeding

Front 27

Milk Replacer
(4)

Back 27

1) 70-85% of calves
2) 22% protein is optimum
3) 20% fat is ideal (need at least 10%)
4) Antibiotics - may decrease duration and severity of scours but banned in many countries

Front 28

Colostrum
(4)

Back 28

1) 2-14% of calves
2) Has higher solids content than milk - many people dilute
3) 3 or 2 parts colostrum to 1 part water
4) stir before feeding as colostral solids settle out

Front 29

Fermented Colostrum or Milk
(3)

Back 29

1) 3% of calves
2) < 80F allow to spontaneously ferment in plastic container
3) > 80F need to add preservatives (propionic acid or formaldehyde)

Front 30

Whole, Mastitic, Antibiotic Treated
(4)

Back 30

1) 10% of calves
2) Bulk tank may be cheapter than using milk replacer
3) Waste milk from cows with mastitis is fine to feed if calves > 24 hours old
4) 3 major problems: BLV, Johne's disease or salmonella

Front 31

Concentrate/Hay Feeding
(3)

Back 31

1) Starting day 7 to 10 introduce a palatable calf starter ration
2) Starting day 7, calves will start to nibble good quality hay
3) Rumen development is optimized if hay is reserved for weaned calves after 8 weeks of age

Front 32

When do you wean the calf?
(4)

Back 32

1) When daily starter consumption is 1 to 1.5 lbs
2) Usually 4 to 8 weeks of age
3) Preferable than weaning based on age
4) Should wean groups of similar body size instead of age