Colostrum Antibody Concentration at
2nd and 3rd Milking
In general we know that antibody concentration goes down from milking to milking after a cow has a calf.
Davis and Drackley (The Development, Nutrition and Management of the Young Calf, 1998, p 182) reported this concentration declining this way:
1st milking 100%
2nd milking 70%
3rd milking 40%
In a 2005 presentation at the Mid-Atlantic Conference J.H. Herbein reported somewhat similar data separately by breed: (this is a limited data set including both conventionally fed and grazed dairy cattle)
Holstein data
1st milking 100% 95g/l
2nd milking 77% 73g/l
3rd milking 45% 50g/l
Jersey data
1st milking 100% 63g/l
2nd milking 70% 50g/l
3rd milking 56% 35g/l
Bottom line
If you have a practical way to harvest and feed 2nd and 3rd milking to calves this product will do a great job of providing surface immunity in the gut of these babies. Remember this product must be collected and handled in a way that it has a low bacteria count in order have healthful consequences.
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