A review of bovine colostrum preservation techniques

Preservation of colostrum for neonatal dairy calves has seldom been seldom in recent years, much of the peer reviewed literature having been published in the 1970s and 1980s. First milking colostrum is high in bioactive immune enhancers such as immunoglobulins, lactoferrins, lysozymes and cytokines and is vital to confer passive immunity to newborn dairy calves to promote their health, welfare and future productivity. Bovine colostrum is advisedly restricted from the bulk milk supply for the first 8 milkings post calving due to high somatic cell counts and the risk of antimicrobial residues. As such, many producers refer to 'colostrum' as not only the first milking post calving, but also the aformentioned 'transition' milk. Colostrum is preserved in order to protect supply for feeding when production may be poor or where there is a glut of colostrum such as in seasonal calving systems. There are multiple reasons for newborn calves not to have access to their dam's colostrum, including multiple births, acute mastitis or maladapted maternal behaviour, especially in first lactation heifers. Shortages in colostrum may also be precipitated by purposeful discarding of colostrum from cows infected with Mycobacterium avium subsp paratuberculosis and Mycoplasma bovis. Broadly, colostrum may be preserved using low temperature (refrigeration or freezing) or chemical preservatives. The aim of this scoping review article was to identify options for preservation and gaps in research and to propose best practice for colostrum preservation.

Desempenho e parâmetros sanguíneos de bezerros leiteiros que receberam sucedâneo lácteo ou silagem de colostro

O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar o desempenho e os parâmetros sanguíneos de bezerros que consumiram colostro bovino fermentado sob condições anaeróbias. Após o nascimento, 18 bezerros da raça Holandês foram alojados em abrigos individuais e passaram a receber 4L da dieta líquida, sucedâneo lácteo ou silagem de colostro, divididos em duas refeições. O consumo de concentrado inicial e o escore fecal foram registrados diariamente, enquanto a pesagem e as colheitas de amostras de sangue para a determinação das concentrações plasmáticas de glicose, nitrogênio ureico, ácidos graxos livres, β-hidroxibutirato e proteínas totais séricas foram realizadas semanalmente. Os animais alimentados com silagem de colostro apresentaram menores consumo de concentrado, ganho de peso diário e peso vivo. Todos os parâmetros sanguíneos avaliados foram afetados pelos tratamentos, exceto a concentração plasmática de proteínas totais. O escore fecal foi afetado pelos tratamentos durante a segunda semana de vida, com animais alimentados com silagem de colostro apresentando fezes anormais e secas. O fornecimento de silagem de colostro como dieta líquida exclusiva não resultou em desempenho animal adequado, não sendo uma boa alternativa de substituto de leite.

Effect of fermentation and formalin preservation on the protein component of bovine colostrum

Colostrum was inoculated with Streptococcus lactis or yogurt culture or preserved with .1% (vol/vol) formalin in two separate experiments. All preparations then were stored at ambient temperature for 24 days. With increasing storage time, a larger proportion of the total colostrum nitrogen was not precipitated in 10% (wt/vol) trichloroacetic acid. By day 24, this represented 30 to 35% for the fermented samples and 10 to 15% for the formalin preserved samples. The majority of this nonprecipitable nitrogen was amino acids and small peptides. Most of the nitrogen in colostrum even after 24 days of storage should be nutritionally useful to the calf because even the nonprecipitable portion is amino acids and peptides.

Performance of calves fed fermented mastitic milk, colostrum, and fresh whole milk

Weight gains, milk intake, and health of calves fed fermented mastitic milk from cows treated and not treated with antibiotics were compared with those of calves fed fermented colostrum or fresh normal milk at two intakes. Calves fed fermented mastitic milk from cows treated with antibiotics, not treated with antibiotics, fermented colostrum (diluted 1:1 with water), and fresh normal milk gained .13, .14, .13, and .10 kg/day in trial 1 fed at 8% of body weight daily, and .09, .11, .18, and .13 dg/day in trial 2 fed at 10% of body weight daily from birth through 30 days of age. All calves were housed in individual pens during milk feeding. Feeding milk at 10% in trial 2 did not improve gains over those in trial 1. Incidence of health disorders and mastitis in first lactation of cows fed fermented mastitic milk as calves was not different from those of cows fed fresh normal milk or fermented colostrum. Fermented mastitic milk appears to be an economical and safe feed for rearing calves when calves are housed individually during milk feeding.

Chemical changes in bovine colostrum preserved with formalin or by fermentation

Fresh bovine colstrum from second and third milkings postpartum was inoculated with either a yogurt culture or Streptococcus lactis or preserved with .1% formalin in two separate experiments. There was a rapid decrease in pH of the fermented samples which corresponded to decreased lactose concentrations and increased lactate and titratable acidity. Titratable acidity in the fermented colostrums increased further after 10 days from the production of volatile fatty acids, but pH did not decrease. The pH of the yogurt fermentations in Experiment 2 decreased to 3.8, and the continued increase in titratable acidity was from lactic acid rather than volatile fatty acids. The lowest pH of all other fermentations was 4.1. The extent of metabolism of the formalin-preserved colostrum was much less than for the colostrum fermented by either culture.

Influence of feeding fermented colostrum and Lactobacillus acidophilus on fecal flora of dairy calves

Twenty Holstein calves were assigned alternately at birth to diets of 1) fermented colostrum, 2) colostrum treated with 1% propionic acid, 3) whole milk, or 4) whole milk treated with Lactobacillus acidophilus (frozen concentrate culture) at 5 x 10(8) organisms per litter. Diets were fed once daily for 3 wk at 10% of birth weight as the sole source of nutritients. Fecal samples were collected at 0, 7, 14, and 21 days of age and analyzed for coliform and lactobacilli numbers. Fermented colostrum diets did not alter coliform counts in feces of healthy calves. Fecal coliform counts of calves fed L. acidophilus decreased with time. Average fecal lactobacilli counts were lower for the colostrum diets than milk diets. The apparent lowered incidence of scours frequently reported in calves fed fermented colostrum diets was not reflected in major changes in fecal microflora under the conditions of this study.

Absorption of colostral proteins by newborn calves fed unfermented, fermented, or buffered colostrum

Unfermented, frozen colostrum from the first three postpartum milkings of 10 cows was thawed, pooled, and treated to produce three diets: 1) unfermented, 2) fermented (7 days at 25 to 27 C), and 3) fermented (as in 2) with pH adjusted to match that of unfermented colostrum. Eighteen newborn, unsuckled Holstein calves were assigned randomly to one of the three diets. Colostrum diets were thawed and fed at 0, 8, 16, 24, and 36 h. Blood was sampled at 0, 4, 8, 16, 24, and 48 h. Minimal breakdown of colostral gamma-globulin and immunoglobulin G (IgG) occurred during fermentation. Protein breakdown during fermentation was associated primarily with the casein fraction. Concentrations of gamma-globulin in serum of calves receiving unfermented colostrum were higher than those of calves fed fermented colostrum at all sampling times beyond 0 h. Concentrations of gamma-globulin in serum of calves fed buffered colostrum were intermediate. Concentrations of IgG followed a similar trend. Health problems were not encountered, indicating potential for passive immunization of newborn calves via fermented, buffered colostrum in emergency situations.