The transfer of passive immunity in calves born at pasture

Calf and dam separation is an area of growing public interest, and timely separation is also a practical challenge for pastoral farmers to achieve for all calves. Very few studies have investigated the success of leaving calves with their dams in pastoral conditions, so this observational study assessed serum total protein (STP) in calves born at pasture and left to suckle from their dams for up to 24 h. It also investigated failure of transfer of passive immunity (FPT) once calves had been provided colostrum from the farmer and some factors that may contribute to the risk of FPT. Over 2 years, 8 farms (4 in the North Island, 4 in South Island of New Zealand) were involved in an observational study where cows and calves were observed for 24 h a day for 2 wk per farm. Observers recorded the time from birth to first suckling, number of suckling events, time of calf removal from the dam, and ambient temperature. Calves were blood sampled on arrival at housing, before receiving colostrum from the farmer (d 1), and again 2 d later (d 3) to test for STP concentration. On d 1, 689 calves had blood samples collected, at a median of 11.5 (interquartile range 5.6 to 19.2) hours postbirth. Of these, 283 calves [41.1%; 95% confidence interval (CI) 37.4 to 44.9%] had STP >52 g/L (proportion by farm ranged from 10 to 78%). On d 3, 680 blood samples were collected, of which 16.0% (95% CI 13.5 to 19.0) had FPT (STP ≤52 g/L) with proportion by farm ranging from 2.5 to 31.6%. The FPT risk at d 3 in calves that did not suckle before housing was 2.91 (95% CI 2.04 to 4.13) times the risk in calves that suckled. For every hour longer postbirth that it took for a calf to have its first suckling event, odds of FPT at d 3 increased by 1.21 (95% CI 1.08 to 1.36) times, and compared with calves that only suckled once, calves that suckled 2, 3-5, or >5 times had 0.42 (95% CI 0.15 to 0.99), 0.35 (95% CI 0.15 to 0.76), and 0.10 (95% CI 0.005 to 0.47) times the odds of FPT, respectively. For every 1-percentage-point increase in the Brix % of the colostrum, the odds of FPT decreased by 33% (95% CI 24- to 42). Calves that suckled in the paddock and were fed colostrum with ≥22% Brix had the highest STP, and lowest odds of FPT, of any suckling/Brix % combination. There was a trend for STP to be greater in calves that suckled in the paddock and fed <22% Brix compared with calves that did not suckle in the paddock and fed ≥22% Brix. However, the calves in the former group also tended to have a greater risk of FPT at d 3, and a greater STP variability. There were very large between-farm variabilities for rates of suckling, colostrum feeding, and FPT risk that urgently require further investigation for calves born at pasture.