A Reevaluation of Routine Force-feeding of Dam's Colostrum to Normal Newborn Beef Calves.

Forty-seven beef calves born to a group of second-calf Hereford and Hereford x Angus cows were used to assess the practical value of force-feeding dam's colostrum. The first 40 calves born were assigned alternately to two equal groups (I and II). One group was force-fed up to I L of dam's colostrum per calf. All these animals were bled at 0 and 48 h after birth. A further group (III) of seven calves born were not handled until they were bled at 48 h. A variety of methods were used to estimate immunoglobulin levels in colostral whey and serum samples. In evaluating the efficiency of passive humoral antibody transfer from dam to offspring, no significant differences were evident except in radial immunodiffusion levels which were increased in group III. The percentages of calves sucking within one hour of birth were 30%, 15% and 100% for groups I, II and III, respectively. Under the conditions of this study it appears that force-feeding of dam's colostrum to the newborn beef calf is disruptive and does not confer any practical benefit on such calves in terms of passive humoral antibody transfer.