Benchmarking hydration, navel health, and transfer of passive immunity in surplus dairy calves

Authors: CHENG, TING-YU - The Ohio State University; Pempek, Jessica; RENAUD, DAVID - University Of Guelph; PROUDFOOT, KATHRYN - University Of Prince Edward Island; ENGLAND, ZACHARY - The Ohio State University; WILSON, DEVON - University Of Guelph; HABING, GREGORY - The Ohio State University

Submitted to: Journal of Dairy Science Communications
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/7/2025
Publication Date: 2/20/2025
Citation: Cheng, T., Pempek, J.A., Renaud, D.L., Proudfoot, K.L., England, Z., Wilson, D.J., Habing, G. 2025. Benchmarking hydration, navel health, and transfer of passive immunity in surplus dairy calves. Journal of Dairy Science Communications. https://doi.org/10.3168/jdsc.2024-0693.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3168/jdsc.2024-0693

Interpretive Summary: Most male and some female dairy calves are are sold soon after birth. Dairy producers, however, receive little to no information on calf health or productivity after calves leave the dairy farm. In this study, researchers assessed measures of calf health (hydration, navel inflammation, transfer of passive immunity) at two calf dealers and provided this information to six of the 13 enrolled dairy farms. Researchers continued to assess calves from participating dairy farms to measure any changes in calf health after report delivery. Dehydration was marginally less likely in calves from the farms that received the reports compared to those that did not receive the reports on calf health. However, there was no evidence to suggest that the reports impacted the percentage of calves with navel inflammation or poor transfer of passive immunity. Therefore, these results suggest that hydration can be positively impacted by sharing calf health-related information with dairy producers after calves are sold.

Technical Abstract: Surplus dairy calves, or calves that are not used to replace the milking herd, are often marketed within the first week of life and can receive suboptimal early-life care. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of delivering benchmarking reports of surplus calf health data to the source dairy farms on surplus calf health. Overall, 13 dairy farms were recruited and randomly assigned to intervention (n = 6) and control (n = 7) groups. The intervention group received health benchmarking reports of surplus calves delivered to calf dealers halfway through the study period whereas the control group did not. Surplus calves from enrolled farms were delivered to two calf dealers, where the calves were assessed for transfer of passive immunity (TPI), navel health, and hydration from May 2021 to June 2022. In November 2021, benchmarking reports were generated using the three health metrics collected in the first six months of the study for each farm, along with de-identified data from the other 12 farms, and delivered to the six intervention farms. Changes in these metrics as influenced by receiving benchmarking reports were investigated using 3 calf-level logistic mixed regression models with “farm” as the experimental unit. A total of 653 calves were sampled and assessed from 6 intervention (n = 282) and 7 control (n = 371) farms. Model estimates for the overall probability of failed TPI (total serum protein < 5.1 g/dL) for intervention and control farms were 26.3% (95% CI = 14.7%, 42.5%) and 17.3% (95% CI = 8.8%, 30.9%), respectively. Likewise, the probability of navel infection was 16.8% (95% CI: 11.2%, 24.6%) and 24.6% (95% CI = 16.8%, 34.5%) for intervention and control farms, respectively. Dehydration was marginally less likely in calves from intervention farms compared to control farms after receiving the benchmarking reports (OR = 0.29, 95% CI = 0.07, 1.13). The results suggest the incidence of calf dehydration may decrease by delivering benchmarking reports to dairy producers. This finding demonstrates the positive effect of feedback on the health status of calves after sale by motivating dairy producers to improve care practices for surplus calves.