1470 Use of the Brix refractometer to evaluate milk replacer solutions for calves

Abstract

The Brix refractometer is used on dairy farms and calf ranches for several reasons including evaluation of colostrum quality (estimation of IgG concentration), estimation of serum IgG concentration in neonatal calves, and nonsalable milk evaluation of total solids for calf nutrition. Another potential use is to estimate the total solids concentrations of milk replacer mixes as an aid in monitoring feeding consistency. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of Brix refractometers to estimate total solids in milk replacer solutions. Five different milk replacer powders were mixed to achieve total solids concentrations from approximately 5.5 to 18%, for a total of 90 different solutions. Both digital and optical Brix refractometers were used to compare with total solids. The two types of refractometers' readings correlated well with one another (R2 = 0.997). The Brix readings were highly correlated with the total solids percentage (R2 = 0.94). A value of approximately 1.08 to 1.47 would need to be added to the Brix reading to estimate the total solids in the milk replacer mixes. Osmolality was correlated to the Brix reading but the relationship was different depending on the type of milk replacer. The Brix refractometer can be successfully used to estimate total solids concentration in milk replacer mixes to help monitor milk replacer feeding consistency.