Heifers fed a transition milk replacer in their first 10 days of life produced a remarkable 947 litres more milk in their first lactation compared to a similar group fed a skim-based milk replacer, new research has shown.

A recent trial at Harper Adams University investigated the long-term effects on Holstein Friesian heifer calves from feeding a transition milk replacer.

It involved 36 animals, evenly split into two groups according to their birthweight and dam parity.

All received four litres of pasteurised good quality colostrum at birth.

In their first 10 days, one group was fed Transformula, a transition milk replacer manufactured by Bonanza Calf Nutrition, and the other a skim-based calf milk replacer (CMR), as the feed plan in Table 1 shows.

The study followed all the animals through to their first lactation – and the results were astounding.

On average, heifers in the transition milk group produced 8,625 litres a head in that lactation (See Figure 1), at 617kg of milk solids (See Figure 2), compared to the standard CMR group who produced 7,678 litres a head at 532kg milk solids.

That equates to an additional 947 litres of milk and 85kg of butterfat and protein.

Dr Amanda Dunn, of Bonanza Calf Nutrition, calculates that at current prices, there was a 100:1 payback from feeding Transformula.

The trial showed no significant differences in growth rates or health scores in the two groups of calves during the pre-weaning period and at weaning.

Transition milk-fed calves grew at 0.63kg/day and the control group at 0.61kg/day.

Heifers in both groups had a similar calving age, which was 26 months. That is much earlier than the UK average, which a 2018 study (Eastham et al., 2018) showed was 29.1 months. Forty per cent of heifers in that study were in fact 30 months or older at time of first calving.

Dr Dunn says a lower age at first calving has been associated with better reproductive performance, increased survivability and reduced somatic cell counts.

“First lactation milk production tends to be much lower among younger heifers but lifetime daily milk yield significantly greater,’’ she says.

“Every dairy farmer should be aiming for a heifer’s milk yield to be approximately 80% of their second lactation yield which would leave the transition milk-fed heifers in this study producing well over 10,000 litres of milk in their second lactation.’’ 

The bioactive components found in transition milk play a huge role in the development of the baby calf and are exactly what nature intended to set up the foundation for health and development for future performance in the milking herd.

But not all farms can feed their own transition milk because of the risk of transmitting Johne’s or mycoplasma, or issues with storage; in situations where there is inadequate storage large volumes of transition milk are often stored in buckets from one feed to the next but bacteria flourishes in that environment. As a result, calves are then fed a bacterial soup.

Pasteurisation is an option, but it is unknown as to whether it can undo poor hygiene practice and may also have a negative effect on the beneficial bioactive ingredients found within fresh transition milk.

Some herds don’t produce enough either – often there are insufficient cows calved at a given time to supply the quantity of transition milk required to feed to calves for this length of time.

Dr Dunn says Transformula offers the perfect consistent alternative to a cow’s own transition milk.

Table 1: Feed plan from birth to weaning according to treatment group