Profiling of bovine colostrum in dairy cows

Barishal

Newborn calves are the future assets of dairy farms. Feeding good-quality colostrum ensures strong immunity, reducing disease risks and mortality. Immunoglobulin absorption is highest immediately after birth and declines after six hours. Poor colostrum intake weakens immunity, leading to infections and economic losses. Proper colostrum management is crucial, but research on calf immunity remains limited in Bangladesh.

a) To analyze the colostrum profile of dairy cattle i. Colostrum IgG and total protein will be measured by Brix refractometer. ii. Total fat, protein, lactose, Non-fat solid in colostrum will be measured by milk analyzer c) To analyze the passive immunity transfer profile of calf after colostrum feeding i. After colostrum feeding the serum IgG, IgA and IgM will be measured by indirect ELISA. The serum will be collected at day 2, day 4 and day 6 of post calving. ii. Collected data will be analyzed by SPSS.

In field condition, about 87.50% farm owner did not examine the colostrum before feeding to newly born calf. But maximum farmer feed the calf 4 time per day, unfortunately they feed colostrum to calf 1 hr after born. The average brix refractometer reading at day 1 was 24.58%. In this study, Holstein Friesian cross breed cow had the good quality colostrum in term of brix refractometer reading. On the other hand, good quality colostrum was found in 2nd parity compared to other parity. Yellow or deep yellow colostrum showing good brix refractometer reading. Interestingly, the total serum protein was normal to reference value but the IgG and IgA value in serum level was very low and it was below the standard. There were several studies found that the normal serum IgG value at day one was 68µg/ml to 26 mg/ml (Jezek et al., 2012; Wilm et al., 2018). The exact cause was not identified. But the high brix meter reading did not always a good sign of colostrum and sometimes fat, casein and other macromolecules that are insoluble in water that affect the colostrum quality (Schalich and Selvaraj 2022).

Holstein Friesian cross breed with 2nd parity cows have a good quality colostrum in term of brix refractometer reading. But, unfortunately the passive transfer of immunity was below the standard. Early calf mortality may be the cause of this low passive transfer of immunity.

The findings from this research could help the farmer to rethink about the colostrum feeding and also make sure the quality. Good quality proven colostrum may be stored and sold whether it demand.

After completing this research, the finding will be distributed to the dairy farmers and will describe the effect of colostrum on calf health. If the motivation is successful, I think the farmers will reduce the early calf mortality and will be benefitted.