Adapté de étude de cas: Une approche holistique de la gestion du colostrum : enrichissement du colostrum maternel associé à une alimentation prolongée au colostrum comme mesures de contrôle de la diarrhée néonatale bovine associée au rotavirus. Ryan C. T. Davies, Katharine Denholm
Introduction
La diarrhée néonatale du veau (NCD), également connue sous le nom de « scours », reste l'un des problèmes de santé les plus importants chez les veaux avant le sevrage, contribuant à un taux de traitement élevé, à un risque de mortalité et à une baisse de la productivité future dans les exploitations laitières et bovines. Même les cas bénins peuvent avoir des répercussions à long terme sur la croissance et les performances globales. Si la diarrhée est souvent considérée comme un élément inévitable de l'élevage des veaux, la plupart des épidémies peuvent être liées à des facteurs de gestion qui peuvent être améliorés en accordant une attention particulière aux détails.
Voici 4 mesures que vous pouvez prendre en cas de diarrhée afin d'améliorer les résultats chez les veaux :
1. Review colostrum management
Ensure the colostrum being fed has at least 50g of immunoglobulins (IgG) per liter and limit bacterial contamination through clean handling practices such as feeding as soon as possible and IgG safe pasteurization (140 °F or 60 °C for 60 min). Calves should receive colostrum within the first 6 hours after birth.
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- ‣ Colostrum should be no less than 22% brix
- ‣ Use refractometer to confirm brix % and the SCCL app to see how much enhancement with powdered colostrum is needed to increase to excellent quality. Calves should be receiving either 200 to 300 g of IgG or 10% of their bodyweight in quality colostrum.
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Use 100% bovine colostrum. Hierarchy of colostrum sources maternal > fresh or frozen from another dam in the herd > powdered colostrum replacement. It is recommended to not use colostrum from another farm to avoid outside pathogens.
2. Environment
Are calves being born in a clean environment? Employ a protocol to clean calving pens between uses (and individual or group housing pens), if calving on pasture, employ a Sandhills or Foothills calving system to avoid pathogen exposure from older calves to younger calves.
Have nipples and tubes specific for sick animals so do not accidentally infect healthy calves.
3. Adapted transition feeding protocol – colostrum fortified milk replacer
Switching to a straight milk replacer after the initial colostrum feeding, rather than using transition milk or a colostrum-enriched milk replacer, can deprive calves of key bioactive components such as oligosaccharides, insulin-like growth factors, and lactoferrin, which they would naturally receive when suckling from their dam. However, transition milk, while often available, may not be ideal for calves due to inconsistency and variable quality including IgG content and potential contamination. Feeding a milk replacer ration fortified with colostrum powder can deliver a more consistent feed, that is less labor intensive, and reduces pathogen exposure compared to feeding transition milk.
A étude de cas récente highlighted that supplementing 70g of colostrum replacer in the milk replacer ration 2x daily can reduce diarrhea and improve titres against pathogens while having a reduced bacterial load compared to transition milk.
4. Follow-up and evaluate success
Even small adjustments can have a significant impact on calf health. Understanding where you started, what needs to be improved, what data needs to be collected to make a decision, and what adjustments to management made the difference is important in making impactful changes to improve animal health and the bottom line by preventing future outbreaks.
Conclusion
Small changes can have a big impact. Understanding areas on your operation where efficiency can be increased and pathogen loads can be decreased are key to healthy calves. Giving calves their best start by introducing them into a clean environment, setting protocols to ensure successful transfer of passive immunity with a robust colostrum protocol, and following up to measure success means continual progress of the productivity and health of your herd.
Work with your veterinarian and team to set up a plan, to identify potential risks to prevent diarrhea before it happens and to minimize the impact if it does.