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Failure of Passive Transfer (FPT)

What contributes to Failure of Passive Transfer (FPT)?

  • Feeding colostrum with inadequate levels of IgG

  • Feeding insufficient volumes of colostrum

  • Feeding colostrum too late after birth

  • Bacteria contaminating colostrum at harvest, during storage or at feeding

Numerous factors influence the IgG content of colostrum, such as:

  • An insufficient quantity of colostrum

  • Inferior quality of colostrum, ie colostrum collected from cows after the first 24 hours post birth

  • Poor maternal instincts

  • Suckling drive of the newborn

Why can feeding enough high-quality colostrum be a challenge?

  • Time and staffing constraints during calving, kidding or lambing can mean that newborn animals don’t get enough colostrum in the first hours after birth.

  • Maternal colostrum quality (IgG, fat and protein concentrations and volumes) are often variable and poor.

In a 2015 study done in New Zealand, only 9.7% of 298 samples (collected from cows at multiple times during the calving season) had immunoglobulin concentrations above the recommended threshold of 22%*, and only 8.6% had acceptable (low) bacterial contamination levels³. The study was done on 107 farms in nine regions across NZ.

In the same study, FPT was diagnosed in one third of dairy calves.

* It is internationally accepted that if maternal colostrum measures 22%MS with a Brix refractometer, then the IgG content will be approximately 50g/L.

3. Denholm et al., 2017. Associations between management practices and colostrum quality on New Zealand dairy farms. New Zealand Veterinary Journal, 65, 5: 257-263.

If colostrum quality is an issue on your farm

Consider AgriVantage Launchpad 18 Colostrum Powder with 18% IgG

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