Colostrum is the keystone to a successful preweaning period, and making sure calves quickly receive a high-quality product is the best tool we have to support their future health

Colostrum, more than anything else, influences calf health and survival prior to weaning, said Sabine Mann during a Cornell Cooperative Extension webinar

Feeding high-quality colostrum is recognized as a critical factor to raising healthy calves. In addition to supplying important immunological components, colostrum is rich in nutrients, hormones, and and...

Thanks to some extra care and attention, a premature calf recently born on our farm is doing well

The standards we know best can sometimes be just what’s needed to solve a problem

Quality, quantity, quickness, squeaky clean, and quantify: these “five Qs” developed by Sandra Godden at the University of Minnesota serve as guidelines for effectively supplying colostrum

“A calf is a ball at the top of a hill. Depending how you manage that calf, how you feed that calf and what happens to that calf, will affect its future direction,” said Michael Steele from...

Four quarts of clean, high quality colostrum (greater than 50 grams per liter [g/L] of immunoglobulins or IgG) — within six hours of birth — has long been the recommendation for successful...

Most producers can recite how they successfully manage colostrum on their farms, yet accomplishing this protocol consistently can be a major challenge

On many farms, it’s well understood that the calf’s first meal is of vital importance

Goma Dairy in Marlette, Mich., found that storing and freezing colostrum in plastic bags leads to a faster defrosting period

While colostrum is known to be needed by newborn calves as they are born without any immunity, there is more to this picture

Make sure that you have high-quality colostrum in stock. The excitement that a newborn calf brings can be one of the best feelings in the world. Unfortunately, the disappointment you feel when you discover...

This item was updated on May 30, 2016, to reflect Celsius as the temperature for pasteurization. Colostrum delivers life-saving immunity and nutrients to newborn calves, but if not careful, it can also...

A few factors play a big role in the quality of colostrum. While breakfast may be our most important meal of the day, for calves, that first feeding of colostrum is the most critical meal of their lives....

When it comes to colostrum, quality and timing could be more important than the source

A calf is like a bank account; for best results, make high-quality deposits starting at day one. On the farm, the best way to measure a calf's immune defenses is by testing for total protein (TP) in blood....

We've been indoctrinated with the five C's to give calves their best possible start. Colostrum tops this list, followed by calories, cleanliness, comfort and consistency. Despite the order we've all been...

But simple practices can help calves survive and thrive, even after a difficult birth. Do you know how many calves you lost as a result of dystocia last year?