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What is transition milk and why is it so crucial for calf health?
- Transition milk comes in after colostrum around 2-6 milkings post-partum.
- Transition milk supports the rapidly evolving gut of the young calf.
- Historically transition milk was fed to calves, but this practice has declined due to modern farming techniques which would increase the risk of infectious disease.
- In studies, calves who were not fed transition milk reported a higher incidence of scour, poorer weight gain, and health issues.
- Farmers can give their calves the benefit of transition milk without the risk of disease by using a transition milk replacer.
Transition milk is the milk cows produce after colostrum. It is the period during which colostrum changes into regular whole milk. The amount of milkings it can take before milk moves from colostrum to transition milk varies between cows, but it is generally milking 2-6 post-partum.
Why is Transition Milk Important?
The calf’s intestines are frequently shed in the first 1-2 weeks of life. This means that repeatedly lining the gut with transition milk will top up the nutrients and bioactive material to nourish the intestinal wall. Studies investigating the effect of feeding further feeds of colostrum/transition milk have reported enhanced morphological developments of the gastrointestinal tract including increased surface area of the small intestine.
In the absence of feeding transition milk studies, calves experienced a higher incidence of scour, poor weight gain, and issues with changes in routine and diet. The porous intestinal wall in neonatal calves results in an increased vulnerability to infectious diseases. The most common ones calves are exposed to are the pathogens we are all so familiar with such as rotavirus and cryptosporidia. Transition milk can help prevent these infections naturally.
The Historic Role of Transition Milk
Historically transition milk was fed as standard practice as milk had antibiotic residues from dry cow therapy. This is not the case today with many dry cow therapy options allowing milk to go into the tank immediately/within hours of calving. Furthermore, many calves are placed on automatic feeders using regular milk replacers within 24-48 of birth. Another reason calves are not fed transition milk and are place on milk replacer as soon as possible is due to the risk of spreading infectious diseases such as Johne’s disease to the calves through the milk. These factors combined result in many calves not receiving transition milk.
Research on Transition Milk
Feeding Transition milk can increase the surface area of the gastrointestinal tract. Pyo et al.,1 reported that the surface area was reduced in calves fed whole milk rather than colostrum or colostrum mixed with whole milk (similar to transition milk). This reduction was up to 60% in the small intestine.
Transition Milk Improves Health, Development, and Growth
New research carried out in the U.S. is further supporting the evidence that Transition Milk has a very important role in the health and development in calves (Van Soest, 2020).2
The recently published research concluded that feeding Transition milk for 11 days improved average daily weight gains in calves, improved health scores, and increased development of the small intestines. Furthermore, feeding transition milk for more than one week resulted in more steady glucose concentrations in the blood and increased epithelial cells which boost immunity and provide a physical and biochemical barrier against pathogens.
How to Get the Benefit of Transition Milk, Without Increasing Disease Risk
Transformula is a milk replacer specifically designed to successfully replace transition milk. This transition milk replacer can be successfully fed to calves after receiving adequate colostrum. It contains a special pack to help in the protection and development of the small intestine to improve health, weight gains, and contentment in calves that would otherwise receive regular milk replacer at a very early age. Transformula can be particularly helpful when there is an intensive environment for example with several calvings close together, automatic feeding systems or there is an existing calf health issue on the farm. Suitable for manual feeding or through automatic machines, Transformula provides much versatility for the farmer without compromising the calf’s health.
References:
- Pyo, J., Hare, K., Pletts, S., Inabu, Y., Haines, D., Sugino, T., Guan, L.L. and Steele, M., 2020. Feeding colostrum or a 1: 1 colostrum: milk mixture for 3 days postnatal increases small intestinal development and minimally influences plasma glucagon-like peptide-2 and serum insulin-like growth factor-1 concentrations in Holstein bull calves. Journal of Dairy Science. ↩︎
- Van Soest, B., 2020. The Effects of Transition Milk on Growth and Health of Neonatal Calves (Doctoral dissertation, Michigan State University). ↩︎
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