As calving season progresses, we hear of miracle remedies that will get an unthrifty calf up to snuff in no time. Whether oral or injectable, it’s good to understand what the active ingredient in the “cocktail” is that may – or may not – give the calf a boost.

Not all milk replacers are the same. Sure, they differ by protein source, level of protein/fat and any medications or additives included. But milk replacers also differ on how well they support gut health and protect overall calf health. While you probably have a favorite milk replacer, new research shows that adding IgY, the avian equivalent of IgG (immunoglobulin G found in colostrum), can make a good milk replacer even better.

Most veterinarians recommend vaccinating nursing calves against clostridial, respiratory and digestive pathogens at 2 months old to bolster immunity against those pathogens.

A new era of calf prices begs the question: What’s one more worth? An extra weaned calf can be a result of improved reproductive success in conjunction with reducing morbidity and death loss.

Stress on cattle is inevitable, but producers know the goal is to manage and mitigate the stresses animals experience, including transportation, weaning, parturition, dietary and nutritional changes, predation, commingling, vaccination, diseases and infections. 

Ensuring the health and productivity of starter cattle is a complex challenge. One of the critical aspects of managing this is understanding and supporting their immune systems, especially during the stressful transition from pasture to backgrounder or feedlot.

University of Missouri researchers have created the first-ever vaccine proven to protect cattle from bovine anaplasmosis, a tick-borne cattle disease. The disease infects the red blood cells of cattle and causes millions of dollars in economic losses across the U.S. due to reduced cattle production, treatment costs and animal deaths.

Vaccine protocol discussions can be energetic and entertaining amongst calf raisers, consultants and veterinarians. It ultimately leads to comparing the current vaccine protocol to a large, well-established calf raiser in the region or even nationally. There can be value in this comparison, but the real value is understanding how these successful facilities arrived at their protocol.

As the field of cattle science progresses, we delve deeper into a previously unexplored domain: the ruminant gut microbiome. Each animal hosts a distinct set of organisms, many of which remain unknown in terms of their specific functions and interactions.