The Microbial Composition of Bovine Colostrum as Influenced by Antibiotic Treatment

Background/Objectives: Bovine colostrum, the initial milk produced by cows postpartum, contains an array of key nutritional, immune, and microbial components that support the calf's physiological development, immune maturation, and intestinal colonization. The composition and quality of colostrum can be influenced by multiple factors, including seasonal variation, breed, parity, and farm management practices. This study investigated the microbial profile of Irish bovine colostrum and the influence of antibiotic therapy and parity. Methods: Bovine colostrum samples were collected from five Irish dairy farms that implemented different methods of dry cow therapy (DCT): natural or blanket. For blanket DCT, four of the five farms administered intramammary antibiotics at the start of the drying off period. Two farms administered a fourth-generation cephalosporin, cefquinome, and two farms used an antibiotic of the penicillin class, with the active ingredients consisting of procaine benzylpenicillin, penethamate hydriodide, and framycetin sulphate. One farm did not administer antibiotics but applied a teat sealant (natural DCT). Following calving, colostrum samples from 90 healthy dairy cows were analysed. Results: 16S rRNA sequence analysis revealed Firmicutes, Actinobacteriota, Bacteroidota, and Proteobacteria as the most abundant phyla across all treatment groups, with Acinetobacter, Corynebacterium, Facklamia, Jeotgalicoccus, Lactococcus, Leuconostoc, Psychrobacter, and Staphylococcus dominating at genus level. Parity did not significantly affect the microbial composition in this study, but antibiotic treatment did. Cows receiving no antibiotics showed distinct microbial clustering compared with antibiotic-treated cows (β-diversity, p < 0.001). Microbial diversity also differed between the antibiotic-treated groups, with significant changes in both α-diversity (p < 0.01) and β-diversity (p < 0.001), suggesting that the choice of antibiotic may also influence the microbiota. An influence of farm was also observed. Differential abundance analysis showed no increase in mastitis-associated genera in colostrum following natural DCT, although increased abundance was demonstrated with blanket DCT. Conclusions: Our findings substantiate the diverse and unique microbial composition of bovine colostrum. The data indicate that the microbial profile of bovine colostrum is influenced by antibiotic treatment administered during the dry period and affirms the latest policies inhibiting prophylactic antibiotic administration. Future studies should elucidate strain level changes in the colostrum microbiota following on-farm antibiotic use, assess the associated risks of antimicrobial resistance, and explore non-antibiotic alternatives for drying off cows. Evidently, the microbial composition of bovine colostrum is influenced by farm management strategies and optimizing these measures may further increase the valuable constituents of bovine colostrum and confer added health benefits to the new-born calf.