The first meal of colostrum that a calf gets is the most important meal of its life. To prevent colostrum deficiency in calves, a calf should drink at least 4 litres of good quality cow colostrum within the first 12 hours after birth. Cow colostrum is important for beef calves for a number of reasons.

Cow colostrum is required for maternal antibody transfer to beef calves
Cow colostrum contains bovine colostrum immunoglobulin that can be absorbed by the calf up to 12-24 hours after birth. Excellent maternal antibody transfer to beef calves is crucial because a calf is born without a so-called “immunological memory”. It therefore needs bovine colostrum immunoglobulin for protection against neonatal disease.

Bovine colostrum contains essential growth factors for beef calves
Bovine colostrum contains a number of growth factors^1,2 that are essential for gut integrity of beef calves, development of the immune system and growth (see Figure 1). The two most important growth factors for beef calves, insulin-like growth factors 1 and 2 (IGF-1 and 2) and transforming growth factors alpha and beta (TGF-A and B), are only found in bovine colostrum³. A beef calf therefore needs bovine colostrum to reach an optimal weaning weight.

Bovine colostrum is essential for thermoregulation of beef calves
Thermoregulation of young beef calves is suboptimal, so they need energy immediately after birth. Lipid stores in newborn calves are limited, they are sufficient for up to 15 hours of survival without feed⁴. Energy in bovine colostrum is mainly coming from protein and fat, less from lactose. Bovine colostrum contains 5,4 kJ ME/l compared to 2,8 kJ ME/l for cow milk. Beef calves that do not consume colostrum within the first few hours after birth will therefore become weak and lethargic, without a suckling reflex. Beef calves therefore need bovine colostrum to help them survive the first few hours after birth and to reduce the risk of developing colostrum deficiency of beef calves.

30-50% of beef calves suffer from the colostrum deficiency of calves, with failure of maternal antibody transfer^5,6,7,8,9 and depletion of body fat early in life. Colostrum deficiency of calves results in a higher incidence of disease and a higher mortality in the period between birth and weaning^6,7. Weaning weight of beef calves suffering from colostrum deficiency can be reduced by 17 kg.

Most beef calves nurse directly from their dams. This means there are two ways to improve energy supply and maternal antibody transfer to beef calves:

• Ensure beef calves are lively and stand soon after calving and start drinking.
• Optimize colostrum quality of beef cows

Fytera Lacteco is a natural feed additive for beef cattle containing a phytogenic complex. Fytera Lacteco can assist in reducing the risk of colostrum deficiency of beef calves. Trials^10,11 have shown that feeding Fytera Lacteco to beef cows during the last 30 days before calving may result in a significant improvement of bovine colostrum immunoglobulin transfer to beef calves and an increase in body weight at day 56 after birth and at weaning.

Material and methods
Starting 30 days before the expected calving date, two groups of 8 Aberdeen Angus cows, at an age of 3 years were fed 250 or 500 mg/cow/day of Fytera Lacteco for beef cattle and colostrum quality, maternal antibody transfer and weight gain of beef calves were compared to a control group of 7 animals.

Results
There was a significant increase in fat level of the colostrum from cows fed Fytera Lacteco (see Table 1).

Table 1: Milk solids, MUN and bovine colostrum volume in beef cows fed Fytera Lacteco, a phytogenic feed additive for beef cattle, at 250 or 500 mg/cow/day compared to controls fed the same diet. Different superscripts indicate significance.
Feeding Fytera Lacteco to beef cattle during the last 30 days of pregnancy resulted in an increase of bovine colostrum IgG and IgA levels in calf serum (see Figures 2 and 3).

Material and methods
Two groups of 8 Aberdeen Angus heifers were fed 250 or 500 mg/cow/day of Fytera Lacteco during the last 30 days of pregnancy. Colostrum quality, maternal antibody transfer of bovine colostrum immunoglobulin and weaning weight of beef calves were compared to a control group of 8 animals fed the same diet without Fytera Lacteco for beef cattle.

Results
Bovine colostrum IgG levels at 24 hours after calving and serum IgG of the calves at 48 hours after calving both increased as a result of feeding Fytera Lacteco to beef cows (see Figures 5 and 6).

IgA levels in cow colostrum at 24 hours post partum and serum IgA of the calves at 48 hours post partum both increased after feeding Fytera Lacteco to the heifers (see Figures 7 and 8).

The effects of Fytera Lacteco on colostrum quality and transfer of bovine colostrum immunoglobulin to beef calves was tested in two trials9,10 carried out by independent universities. Fytera Lacteco assisted in improving maternal antibody transfer in calves in both trials. It was concluded that feeding Fytera Lacteco can assist in improving bovine colostrum quality and reducing the risk of colostrum deficiency of beef calves.