Özet:

Calves need to be healthy for herd progression in sustainable cattle management. Adequately feeding the calves with good quality colostrum is reportedly one of the most important factors affecting their health, growth, immune system, and vitality. Here, we randomly selected new-born calves, purchased from Afyon Ballıpınar Simental Company, regardless of their sex and divided them equally into separate groups. They were categorized ensuring that the parity of cows in the groups was balanced. We included 27 calves (15 females and 12 males) in this study. The animals were categorized as follows: Group 1: calves that consumed the colostrum directly from the udder; Group 2: Calves that consumed the colostrum (approximately 5% of their birth weight) with a feeding bottle; and Group 3: Calves that consumed the colostrum (nearly 8% of their birth weight) through the feeding bottle. It is important to immediately administer the colostrum to the calves after their birth while maintaining hygiene. The feeding method or amount can be selected after considering the infrastructure and facilities of the company. Controlling the immunoglobin levels with a refractometer may lead to inconclusive results. Considering this, the most accurate method to identify the immunoglobulins is ELISA. Therefore, our results revealed that the calf-deaths associated with colostrum failure could be minimized by producing refractometers suitable for practical use or ready-made diagnostic kits that provide results that are as reliable as ELISA.

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