EFFECTS OF RECEIVING TWO INITIAL FEEDINGS OF COLOSTRUM ON GROWTH AND HEALTH OF HOLSTEIN CALVES

It is well-known that there are beneficial non-nutritive bioactive components in colostrum, which is the first milk secreted after parturition. We hypothesize that Holstein heifer calves that are given two doses of colostrum as their initial feedings will have a higher average daily weight gain compared to those that are given one dose of colostrum. In addition to weight gain, we hypothesize that two doses of colostrum will reduce the risk of acquiring neonatal diseases such as pneumonia and diarrhea and will reduce the number of treatments to recover if the disease occurs.Objective #1: To compare average daily gain, neonatal disease incidence, and the number of treatments received between Holstein heifer calves that receive two initial feedings of colostrum to those that receive one colostrum feeding during the pre-weaning period.