Lactoferrin reduces mortality in preweaned calves with diarrhea

Area of Science:

• Veterinary Medicine
• Animal Science
• Dairy Production

Background:

• Calf diarrhea is a primary cause of mortality and antimicrobial use in preweaned dairy calves.
• Alternative therapies are needed to reduce reliance on conventional antimicrobials for calf diarrhea.
• Lactoferrin, found in colostrum, and garlic extract are potential natural alternatives.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficacy of lactoferrin and garlic extract in reducing mortality and culling in preweaned calves with diarrhea.
• To assess the impact of these alternatives on weight gain and disease duration.

Main Methods:

• A blinded, randomized field trial involving 628 preweaned calves diagnosed with diarrhea (fecal score ≥3).
• Calves received oral lactoferrin, garlic extract, or water (control) for 3 consecutive days.
• Clinical evaluation, mortality, culling, and body weight were monitored for up to 10 days and 120 days post-diagnosis.

Main Results:

• Lactoferrin administration was associated with approximately half the risk of death or culling within 120 days compared to the control.
• Garlic extract did not significantly alter the risk of death or culling compared to the control group.
• Neither treatment significantly affected disease duration or average weight gain over the 10-day observation period.

Conclusions:

• Lactoferrin shows promise as an effective therapeutic agent for reducing mortality and culling in preweaned calves with diarrhea.
• Further multi-farm studies are required to confirm these findings and support lactoferrin as a tool to decrease antimicrobial necessity.
• Garlic extract did not demonstrate significant benefits in this trial.