Search

The article focuses on understanding current calf rearing practices in New Zealand, highlighting the importance of optimizing rearing strategies for both production efficiency and animal well-being in light of emerging trends in the dairy industry, such as changes in transportation and slaughter regulations and growing interest in natural living environments for calves.

The article focuses on Facial Eczema (FE) which is liver disease of ruminants that causes significant production losses and severe welfare impacts. It discusses FE management methods which include breeding for tolerance, fungicide spray, and Zinc in the feed on a feedpad or troughs. It informs that farmers reported clinical signs such as skin lesions, sunburns, and milk production loss.

Passive transfer of colostral immunoglobulins from the cow to the calf is essential for calf health. The objective of this study was to determine if prepartum administration of a vaccine stimulates increased concentrations of colostral immunoglobulins of dairy cows beyond what is explained by vaccine-specific immunoglobulins. A prospective cohort study was conducted on a spring-calving commercial dairy farm that had a policy of only vaccinating cows with even ear tag numbers with a calf diarrhea vaccine, whereas cows with odd ear tag numbers were left unvaccinated. Cows in the vaccinated group (even ear tag numbers, n= 204) received a sensitizer and booster vaccination with a vaccine against bovine rotavirus (serotypes G6 and G10), bovine coronavirus, and E. colihaving the K99 pili adherence factor. A sensitizer was given because the study vaccine was different from the vaccine previously used. Cows in the control group (odd ear tag numbers, n= 194) received a 2-mL subcutaneous sterile saline solution. Both groups received two treatments at a 3-wk interval, completing the treatments approximately 2 wk prior to the planned start of calving. During the calving period, technicians separated calves from cows immediately after parturition and prior to suckling, and cows were completely milked out within 6 h of parturition. Vaccine-specific, total, and nonvaccine-specific (total minus vaccine-specific) concentrations of immunoglobulin classes A, G1, G2a, and M (IgA, IgG1, IgG2a, and IgM, respectively) were quantified by mass spectrometry for 20 colostrum samples from each treatment group. Predicted mean non-vaccine-specific colostral IgM concentrations were 8.76 (95% CI = 7.18–10.67) and 5.78 (95% CI = 4.74–7.05) mg/mL for vaccinated and control cows, respectively (P= 0.005). Predicted mean non-vaccine-specific colostral IgG1 concentrations were 106.08 (95% CI = 92.07–120.08) and 95.30 (95% CI = 81.30–109.31) mg/mL among vaccinated and control cows, respectively; however, these means were not significantly different (P= 0.278). It is thus possible that the vaccine, in addition to specifically managing infectious calf diarrhea, may also have non-specific benefits by improving colostrum quality through increased non-vaccine-specific colostrum IgM concentrations. Further research is necessary to determine the mechanism for these preliminary findings, whether the effect may occur in other immunoglobulin classes, and what impacts it may have on calf health outcomes.Unlike human babies, calves do not receive protective immune proteins (immunoglobulins) from the mother before birth, so a sufficient volume of immunoglobulin-rich colostrum of adequate quality must be consumed within hours of birth. It can be a challenge to meet this requirement for all dairy calves. Prior to calving, cows can be vaccinated with a vaccine against specific infectious causes of calf diarrhea to stimulate elevated concentrations of specific immunoglobulins in their colostrum, which is consumed by their calves to protect them until their own immune systems develop. We enrolled cows that were either vaccinated or not with a calf diarrhea vaccine and, using novel laboratory techniques, measured concentrations of immunoglobulin classes A, G, and M in their colostrum. As expected, vaccinated cows had elevated concentrations of vaccine-specific immunoglobulins in their colostrum. However, they also had elevated non-vaccine-specific concentrations of immunoglobulin M. The vaccine may therefore have stimulated a nonspecific increase in colostral immunoglobulin M concentrations. Further research is necessary to confirm the preliminary findings of the present study and determine the mechanism for this apparent nonspecific increase in colostral immunoglobulin M concentrations, whether it may occur in other immunoglobulin classes, and whether it may benefit calf health and growth.We used novel techniques to show that prepartum vaccination of dairy cows with a calf diarrhea vaccine increased colostral concentrations of not only vaccine-specific immunoglobulins but also non-vaccine-specific immunoglobulin M. More work is required to confirm these preliminary findings, whether the effect may occur in other immunoglobulin classes, and whether this may be a new tool for improving calf health and productivity through enhanced colostrum quality.