Recent, independent research has confirmed just how exposed newborn calves are to picking up disease. For example, on average, it will take a young calf up to three and a half hours to get its first suck. And before it even finds its mother’s teat, it may well have already sucked her tail, leg and other body parts. As a result, the young calf will ingest large number of bugs – Salmonella, E Coli etc – before it receives one drop of colostrum.
Provita’s Tommy Armstrong takes up the story:
“It is crucially important for a young calf to get colostrum as soon as possible after birth,” he explained
