Characteristics of failure of passive transfer at the herd level using the serum immunoglobulin G concentration as an indicator on dairy farms in eastern Hokkaido, Japan

• Published in: Journal of Veterinary Medical Science Vol. 86; no. 7; pp. 809 - 815
• Main Authors: KAYASAKI, Shuji, SATOH, Hitomi, OGUCHI, Keitaro, CHISATO, Kyoko, FUKUMORI, Rika, HIGUCHI, Hidetoshi, SUZUKI, Kazuyuki, OIKAWA, Shin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Japan JAPANESE SOCIETY OF VETERINARY SCIENCE 2024; Japan Science and Technology Agency; The Japanese Society of Veterinary Science
• Subjects: Animals; Animals, Newborn; Cattle; Cattle Diseases - blood; Cattle Diseases - epidemiology; Colostrum; Culling; dairy; Dairy farms; Dairying; Death; failure of passive transfer (FPT); Farms; Female; herd level; Immunity, Maternally-Acquired; Immunization, Passive - veterinary; Immunoglobulin G; immunoglobulin G (IgG); Immunoglobulin G - blood; Internal Medicine; Japan; Japan; immunoglobulin G (IgG); failure of passive transfer (FPT); herd level; dairy
• ISSN: 0916-7250; 1347-7439; 1347-7439
• DOI: 10.1292/jvms.24-0054

The objectives of this study were to conduct a survey of failure-of-passive-transfer (FPT) in eastern Hokkaido Japan, to evaluate the association between herd-level FPT and death and culling or treatment, and to test the effectiveness of monitoring using herd-level FPT. A total of 4,411 Holstein and Holstein-Wagyu crossbreds calves born from Holstein dams during the year beginning April 2, 2019 on 39 dairy farms were included in the study to investigate death-and-culling and the treatment rate during the first month of life, as well as rearing management up to 3 weeks of age. A subset of Holsteins (n=381) was included in the study for passive transfer and farms were diagnosed as having FPT if more than 20% of newborn calves had serum IgG levels below 10 g/L at the herd level. The prevalence of FPT (<IgG 10 g/L) on farms was significantly correlated (r=0.27, P<0.05) with the death-and-culling rate. Binomial logistic regression analysis showed that FPT farms had a significantly higher risk of being high death-and-culling farms than non-FPT farms (odds ratio: 5.20, P<0.05), emphasizing the importance of colostrum feeding. Farms not using frozen stored colostrum had a significantly higher risk of being FPT farms than those that did (odds ratio: 4.13, P<0.05), emphasizing the importance of feeding colostrum from the dam. Monitoring herd-level FPT was useful in assessing whether the problem of calf death and culling lies in passive transfer.