[Necessary provision of newborn lambs with sheep colostrum]

Twenty new-born lambs of each of the breeds Schwarzkopf, Texel and Finnish were fed with 600 ml of pooled colostrum (0-12 h) on the first day of life. The total allocation was fed in portions ranging from 25 to 150 ml at intervals of 1, 2, 3, or 6 hours. The effect of the different intervals and portion volumes on the transintestinal passage of immunoglobulins, the onset of endogenous synthesis, the growth performance of the lambs and the mortality rate was investigated. The concentrations of IgG1, IgG2, IgM and IgA in the sera were analyzed over the course of a nine-week period. 1. The extent of passive immunization by transintestinal passage remained essentially unaffected by different feeding schedules. 2. There was also no effect on the onset of endogenous Ig synthesis. 3. Growth performance and mortality rate likewise showed no discernible differences.