Improving passive transfer of immunoglobulins in calves. II: Interaction between feeding method and volume of colostrum fed

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of method of feeding (nipple bottle vs. esophageal tube feeder) on passive transfer of immunoglobulin (Ig) G when either a large or small volume of colostrum was fed. Newborn bull calves were removed from the dam before suckling and randomly assigned to 1 of 4 colostrum replacer (CR) treatment groups: 1.5L (100g of IgG) of CR fed using a nipple bottle (group 1; n=24); 1.5L (100g of IgG) of CR fed using an esophageal tube feeder (group 2; n=24); 3.0L (200g of IgG) of CR fed using a nipple bottle (group 3; n=24), or 3.0L (200g of IgG) of CR fed using an esophageal tube feeder (group 4; n=25). Blood samples collected at 24h of age showed that serum IgG levels were significantly greater in calves fed large (3L) volumes of CR compared with calves fed small (1.5L) volumes of CR, regardless of feeding method. These differences were attributed to the larger mass of IgG ingested by calves fed 3L of CR (200g of IgG) compared with calves fed 1.5L of CR (100g of IgG). For calves fed small (1.5L) volumes of colostrum, serum total protein (TP, g/dL), serum IgG (IgG, mg/mL), acceptable passive transfer rates (APT, %), and apparent efficiency of absorption of IgG (AEA, %) were significantly greater for calves fed with a bottle (TP=5.3g/dL; IgG=12.5mg/mL; APT=100%; AEA=51.1%) compared with calves fed with an esophageal tube feeder (TP=5.0g/dL; IgG=9.8mg/mL; APT = 41.7%; AEA = 40.5%). However, for calves fed large (3L) volumes of colostrum, there was no difference in passive transfer indices for calves fed with a bottle (TP=5.8g/dL; IgG=19.7mg/mL; APT = 100%; AEA=41.1%) compared with calves fed with an esophageal tube feeder (TP=5.9g/dL; IgG=18.7mg/mL; APT=100%; AEA=39.0%).