“Don’t put your fingers in your mouth … and more importantly, don’t put your fingers in your calf’s mouth!”
It’s a simple message given to every child with a mother, yet with calves we often forget this important lesson. Unlike children and the caretakers of calves, this little newborn comes into the world lacking a functional immune system. Until it has the opportunity to absorb critical immunoglobulins into its blood stream, it is vulnerable to every bacteria, virus and protozoa that it comes into contact with.
The first 24 hours are the most worrisome.
Specialized cells line the intestine of the calf helping it to bring all the goodness contained in colostrum, but they do a lousy job of protecting the calf. We need to do our part. By wearing nitrile gloves and washing before we feed the calf, we drastically reduce the likelihood of contaminating the calf. Think of the common places that your calf feeders would have been just prior to feeding this calf; the cow, the calving shed, obstetric equipment.
There is no doubt that our hands can easily be the source of new infections for these fragile babies.
Wash your hands, wear gloves and be sure to keep all feeding nipples, tubes and other implements as clean as possible. Fill the calf with 10% of its body weight in colostrum within the first hour of life. It will lie down and take a long nap … exactly as it would in nature when it is hidden by its mama. Then give another 5% of body weight in a second feeding of colostrum at 8-10 hours. A full calf is less likely to suckle on dirty items in its environment.
This winning recipe of 10% + 5% + clean hands, tubes and nipples = the ultimate calf!
