An American government scientist has developed an infant formula for calves that may help them fight infection from salmonella and other microbes, especially during stressful times.
The dietary supplement alters calves’ immunity enough to help them cope with transport stress, which appears to be among the worst sources of stress early in an animal’s life.
The formula contains beta-glucan from yeast cell walls and vitamin C. Studies showed it reduced stress in Holstein dairy calves that were taken from their mothers within 24 hours after birth and transported.
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To mimic commercial operations, U.S. Department of Agriculture immunologist Susan Eicher and colleagues took Holstein dairy calves, usually three to 10 days old, on six to eight-hour trips every Monday to measure stress.
They treated half the calves in each truckload with one of two versions of the experimental formula.
Calves compared
Formula-fed calves regained their appetites and resumed normal growth faster than those not fed the formula. They were also more active, made better use of nutrients and had lower levels of fibrinogen, a liver protein that typically increases with transport stress.
The formula seems to work with the mother’s colostrum, which provides nutrients as well as substances that help protect the newborn animal against disease until the young animal’s own immune system begins to function. Calves given the formula had higher levels of immunoglobulins, which are transferred in colostrum and are indicators of a good immune system.
Another possible connection to colostrum was that untreated calves experienced less stress if they were trucked before or after the fourth day following birth.
According to Eicher, this may be because calves are making the metabolic transition from colostrum to milk at around day four.
As part of an effort to find out exactly how the anti-stress formula works, Eicher is studying calves’ immune cells under a microscope to see where beta-glucan moves and accumulates.
