Colostrum is the first food a calf receives immediately after birth. It should be easily digestible, complete in nutrients and energy. Colostrum meets these requirements. Let's look at when and how much colostrum newborn calves should drink, how to properly feed them by hand, and what not to give to small calves after birth.
Benefits of colostrum
Colostrum is formed in the cow's udder before calving and remains there for 4-6 days after calving. It was created by nature to prepare the calf for independent nutrition and life.It contains all the components necessary for a newborn animal: water, proteins, carbohydrates, fats, minerals, vitamins, bioactive substances.
In addition, colostrum also contains substances unique to secretory fluid - immunoglobulins, active leukocytes and lymphocytes, lysozyme, growth stimulants, interferon, lactoferin, prebiotics, cytokines.
Colostrum is cream or yellowish in color, thicker than milk, and has a salty taste. Every day its composition changes, it becomes thinner and more transparent.
Soldering scheme
The regimen and amount of colostrum ingested by animals affects the health, resistance to disease, and development of the newborn. From a natural point of view, the best option for newborns to receive colostrum is suckling. In this case, he stays with the cow, sucking the fluid directly from her udder. Colostrum not only helps the calf’s body adapt, but also quickly normalizes the condition of cows after birth. As it reaches the baby from the udder, it remains uncontaminated and its temperature is optimal. With this method of feeding, young animals suffer less from gastrointestinal diseases.
For the first time after birth, a calf should drink colostrum at home no later than an hour after birth. In the next 2-3 days he should receive food 4-5 times a day, in the following days - 3-4 times a day.
To feed a calf correctly by hand, you need to give it colostrum according to the norms: on the first day - 17-20% of body weight, on the next - 20-24%.
It should be borne in mind that if a newborn drinks more than he should, it can lead to stomach upset. For weak or small calves, it is better to feed less, but more often. The colostrum fed should be at body temperature; cold colostrum should be warmed to a warm state. The table clearly shows the soldering diagram.
| Drinking days | Number of desolderings | Colostrum volume as a percentage of body weight |
| 1st day | 5 times | 17-20 % |
| 2-3 days | 4-5 times | 20-24 % |
| 4-7 days | 3-4 times | 20-24 % |
How to change the feeding system of calves
After a week of feeding colostrum, animals are switched to whole milk. You can feed naturally or drink milk from a bottle. First, drink 1 liter per day, then the norm is increased to 5-6 liters per day. They feed according to this scheme until 1.5-2 months, when they begin to introduce foods for adult animals into the diet.
Calves up to 1 month of age need to drink milk in small portions; if you give a lot at a time, it will linger in the gastrointestinal tract, causing disorders. Young calves are also fed fermented milk, and towards the end of the suckling period they switch to a low-fat product.
Giving calves water: proper watering
They begin to drink water in parallel with milk. It is necessary to accustom an animal to water, since a lack of fluid leads to an increase in the acidity of the stomach juice and problems with the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract. Calves up to 2 weeks of age need to boil water, after this age they can be given raw water.
You can drink it from a bucket or bottle with a nipple, 1.5-2 hours after drinking milk. The amount of water is no more than 1 liter for animals up to 2 weeks, after which the volume should be gradually increased to 2 liters after each feeding. In addition to water, you can give them water and feed for cattle, which increase appetite and speed up metabolism.
Feeding calves with dry milk
When calves are 10 days old, they can begin to be given milk replacer. 1 kg of dry mixture diluted in water replaces 10 liters of fresh. You need to prepare the mixture from 1 kg of dry raw materials and 8-9 liters of clean water.
The dry mixture contains skim milk, ground grains, whey and buttermilk. Antibiotics are added to some mixtures in production to normalize intestinal function. The advantage of feeding calves with such a mixture is that they cannot contract diseases from their mother, and also that it contains more mineral elements than natural milk.
Another substitute that can be used to feed calves is milk powder. This is dried milk powder, which contains more vitamins and microelements and has great nutritional value. To drink it, it must be diluted with water according to the following scheme: powder in the amount of 0.5% of the animal’s weight, liquid in the amount of 4% of the weight. The advantage of the substitute is that its components do not change, as happens with fresh milk, the composition of which can change depending on the conditions in which the animal lives. In addition, the powder has a long shelf life and is much cheaper.
Vitamin supplements for calves
To normalize life processes, calves need to be given mineral and vitamin supplements. To strengthen the immune system and accelerate growth - “Gamavit”, “Katazol”, “Nucleopeptide”. The drugs are administered by injection. To improve digestive processes and weight gain, young animals are given premixes, for example, the “Gavryusha” premix. In case of hypovitaminosis, inflammation of the mucous membranes, impaired recovery functions and hair loss, Tetravit and Eleovit are given as injections.For newborn calves you can use the Selemag complex.
Supplements containing proteins, vitamins, fat, fiber, ash, sugar and amino acids are also used. They are added to feed.
What should you not give?
During the period of feeding with colostrum, nothing other than water should be given. It is forbidden to drink cold water. Also, calves should not be fed milk from cows with mastitis or any infectious diseases. Equipment - buckets, bottles for drinking - must be clean, after each feeding they must be washed with water and dried, and treated with disinfectants from time to time.
When switching to adult food, you should not feed moldy hay, bread and flour products, potatoes and beets in the same mixture (this leads to bloating). When the calves begin to graze on the pasture, you need to make sure that there are no poisonous plants among the grass. The time from the birth of calves to weaning is an important period in the life of cattle. Proper feeding of young animals ensures their normal development, growth and weight gain, health, and strong immunity. Its productivity and production value depend on how the young animals develop.
