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The power of buttermilk
As we learn more about nutrition and health, we know that the value of natural flora – the prebiotic components and the enzymes in colostrum and milk – is key to calf health and development.
Low heat fresh buttermilk is an important link between colostrum and milk as it contains many of the health components of both and helps to protect the calf’s gut and improve digestion.
Just like skim milk powder, buttermilk also forms a curd but contains the outside wall, or ‘skin’ of the fat globule, which is separated during the butter churning process. This outer skin has an important role to play in reducing gut inflammation and improving digestion.
As we have learnt more about its benefits, we have optimised its use to maximise the milk curd in the calf’s stomach and to improve digestion and health.
In the past, because low heat buttermilk is only produced in small quantities by creameries and its food applications are limited, it was stored for extended periods before drying, thereby reducing its benefit to the calf.
By drying it fresh and under low heat, the casein protein, oligosaccharides and lipids within it are available in the calf’s digestive system to act in the same way as components of colostrum and transition milk, by enhancing good bacteria growth, protecting the gut wall, reducing inflammation, inhibiting pathogen growth and aiding fat digestion in the small intestine.
The best way to explain the benefits of prebiotics or milk oligosaccharides is to compare cow’s milk to goat’s milk. The latter contains a lot but, apart from transition milk and colostrum, cow’s milk has very little. This may explains why goat’s milk seems to reduce allergies and inflammation in humans.
The changes that have to happen to the calf’s digestive system and its microbe population around weaning are often not considered important by many commentators, but getting it right is like feeding good quality colostrum and transition milk. That is, you frequently only see the benefits over the coming weeks, months and years. Having ingredients that help with that digestive development is the same.
See the table below comparing the contribution of the rumen from week to week in calves feed 750g/day of a skim based powder and 18% concentrates adlib.
Protein consumed by calves
week | Protein from CMR | Protein from dry feed | Total |
1 | 150 | 2 | 152 |
2 | 150 | 9 | 159 |
3 | 150 | 21 | 171 |
4 | 150 | 35 | 185 |
5 | 150 | 60 | 210 |
6 | 150 | 102 | 252 |
7 | 150 | 170 | 320 |
8 | 75 | 238 | 313 |
9 | 0 | 272 | 272 |
10 | 0 | 323 | 323 |
Feeding calves ingredients that helps with development allows for a smooth change over and utilisation of the diet and that why just 25g-75g of buttermilk/day can have such a big benefit.
Weaning a calf to withstand post-weaning stressors
For 50 years, calves have been successfully weaned by encouraging consumption of dry feed from an early age.
This approach allows the calf’s growing appetite to be satisfied with intakes of dry feed increased every day.
A functioning rumen provides a calf with protein, which has the same amino acid specification as milk.
The rumen can also recycle milk protein used by the calf to utilise as energy production. It is hard to predict how the components of feed are used so this recycling effect can be important.
The bugs in the rumen and large intestine are key to digestion in the young calf; they will digest practically all the starch and fibre the calf consumes.
Problems arise when the calf is offered unnecessary volumes milk or milk replacer, even if that is just for the first four weeks of life. Even though calves given these excessive volumes will consume dry feed before and after weaning, it can take three to four months for them to digest their dry feed at the same rate as calves fed 600-800g a day of milk replacer. The reason for this is that the microflora or microbiome in the calf take much longer to adjust when calves receive high rates of milk, even extending weaning to 12-16 weeks. That means more cost, labour and housing needs and neither does this approach reduce the nutritional stress these calves will be under before and after weaning.
Gut inflammation, a feature in calves eating dry feed to support their weight but not been able to utilise it, is linked to coccidiosis and pneumonia.
This is why, as a weaning criteria, feeding systems need to target development of the rumen, not just intake of dry feed.
Research on once-a-day milk feeding after 4 weeks has shown that it is the best system for calves before weaning because milk intake is maintained but dry feed intake and rumen and intestinal development are increased, improving calf welfare post-weaning.
Shine Original is the only product tried and tested in Europe and the UK for once-a-day milk feeding systems and is used to rear a quarter of a million calves a year.
Look for milk protein, not plant or crude protein
Calves and cows have a requirement for absorbable amino acids, not protein and definitely not crude protein.
We mention this because many commentators rate calf feeds on crude protein but this is now seen as an unwise way to evaluate feed.
When a calf is born much of the milk protein is digested by the intestinal bugs and over the next two to three weeks digestion of protein improves but the utilisation of the absorbed protein is reduced as the crude protein level and feeding rate increase.
As crude protein and feed rates increase so do the energy and water requirement of the calf to excrete the excess protein through the kidneys.
Calves fed more crude protein are more likely to succumb to disease as energy they could use to fight disease is focused instead on protein excretion.
Therefore, if your calves are not performing look for higher levels of skim and buttermilk milk protein, not crude or plant protein.
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