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Yes. Calves get what's called colostrum from their mothers if allowed to drink from her right after birth.
Factory-raised calves are often separated from their mothers and don't receive the colostrum and subsequently don't develop as good immunization and can get sick from various ailments.
[–]jonny13130 points
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That's not true. Most, if not all, dairy farms will milk the colostrum from the cow and feed it to the calf. A calf without colostrum is a death sentence. Everyone in farming knows that. Not only that, they have colostrum replacer mix made from, ACTUAL COLOSTRUM, on the off chance that they can't get the mother to provide the colostrum. They even list the immunities that the cow had when she was milked for the colostrum.
Dairies don't remove the calves to prevent them from drinking colostrum, the calves will get it later, farmers remove dairy calves from dairy cows because dairy udders are fragile and a calf wrecking its mother's udder means no more milk. When milking time comes they will bring out a separate individual milker for that cow, milk the colostrum, and proceed to feed it to the calf during the feeding schedule that farm goes by.
The article you referenced is from a beef producers site which is an entirely different setup. Beef producers will leave the calf on the mother for around 6-8 months depending on the operation. Udders on beef cattle are immensely different than udders on dairy cattle. Beef cattle in general are much healthier body wise due to many factors.
Source: Am a beef producer with my own herd of cattle.
Other source: I help my extended family on their dairy farm from time to time.
I knew about that right after they're born, but I wonder if they're left to nurse their mothers for a month last say and the calf starts getting sick a week after being born, will the cow start producing colostrum again?
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[–] WORF_MOTORBOATS_TROI 0 points 2 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago
That's pretty interesting. I wonder if livestock does that too
[–] holofan4life 0 points 4 points 4 points (+4|-0) ago
Yes. Calves get what's called colostrum from their mothers if allowed to drink from her right after birth.
Factory-raised calves are often separated from their mothers and don't receive the colostrum and subsequently don't develop as good immunization and can get sick from various ailments.
https://www.beefmagazine.com/health/vets-opinion/colostrum-important-in-calf-health-0201
[–] jonny1313 0 points 2 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago
That's not true. Most, if not all, dairy farms will milk the colostrum from the cow and feed it to the calf. A calf without colostrum is a death sentence. Everyone in farming knows that. Not only that, they have colostrum replacer mix made from, ACTUAL COLOSTRUM, on the off chance that they can't get the mother to provide the colostrum. They even list the immunities that the cow had when she was milked for the colostrum.
Dairies don't remove the calves to prevent them from drinking colostrum, the calves will get it later, farmers remove dairy calves from dairy cows because dairy udders are fragile and a calf wrecking its mother's udder means no more milk. When milking time comes they will bring out a separate individual milker for that cow, milk the colostrum, and proceed to feed it to the calf during the feeding schedule that farm goes by.
The article you referenced is from a beef producers site which is an entirely different setup. Beef producers will leave the calf on the mother for around 6-8 months depending on the operation. Udders on beef cattle are immensely different than udders on dairy cattle. Beef cattle in general are much healthier body wise due to many factors.
Source: Am a beef producer with my own herd of cattle.
Other source: I help my extended family on their dairy farm from time to time.
[–] WORF_MOTORBOATS_TROI ago (edited ago)
I knew about that right after they're born, but I wonder if they're left to nurse their mothers for a month last say and the calf starts getting sick a week after being born, will the cow start producing colostrum again?
[–] Meme_Factory_1776 ago
Nope humans are the only animals that works with.
[–] holofan4life 0 points 3 points 3 points (+3|-0) ago
You're incorrect.
https://beef.unl.edu/beefwatch/importance-colostrum-newborn-calf