Expert advice on colostrum management and newborn best practices.
Our bimonthly publications will inform you about colostrum management practices, newborn care, industry trends, and more.
August 2025
Summer stressors like heat, flies, transport, and dietary changes can quickly disrupt the health of preweaned calves. Diarrhea and dehydration are common consequences, often requiring immediate intervention. In these moments, producers need a fast, effective solution to restore gut health and support recovery. That’s where the RESTORE protocol comes in.
July 2025
The importance of colostrum within the first hours of a calf’s life is universally recognized, as newborncalves are born with a naive immune system and are entirely dependent on colostrum to acquire passive immunity. Traditionally, this feeding is limited to a single dose of high-quality (> 50g/L of IgG) colostrum within the first hours post-birth. However, new evidence suggests that extending colostrum feeding using transition milk (TM), defined as milkings 2 through 6 post-calving (Godden, 2008), can provide significant health and performance benefits to young calves during the critical early weeks of life.
June 2025
Personality traits influence dairy calves’ responses to disease, pain, and nutritional challenges. By understanding these traits and implementing effective management strategies, farmers can enhance calf welfare and reduce stress for both the animals, labor and farm owners.
May 2025
Respiratory disease is one of the most common and economically significant health challenges affecting preweaned dairy calves. It accounts for a substantial proportion of antibiotic treatments, veterinary costs, and calf losses on farms, and it remains a persistent barrier to achieving optimal calf health and productivity.
April 2025
With calving in full swing and Mother Nature throwing some curve balls, ensuring newborn calves receive high-quality colostrum is more critical than ever. Colostrum, the first milk produced by the dam, is rich in immunoglobulins (antibodies), essential nutrients, and bioactive components that are vital for the health and survival of neonatal calves. The timely intake of adequate colostrum is crucial for passive immunity transfer, protecting calves from diseases and setting the foundation for robust growth and development.
March 2025
For colostrum to be considered high quality, it must have an IgG concentration greater than 50 g/L (McGuirk and Collins, 2004). A practical, quick, and cost-effective way to measure colostrum quality on the farm is through the use of a refractometer (Bielmann et al., 2010). Instead of directly measuring IgG concentration, the refractometer assesses the total protein content of colostrum, providing results expressed in % Brix.
-June 25th, 2025 | 5:00 pm CST
