Randomized controlled clinical trial on the effect of oral immunoglobulin supplementation on neonatal dairy calves with diarrhea

Chung, James J.; Rayburn, Maire C.; Chigerwe, Munashe

Thus, nonantibiotic alternatives for managing diarrhea in calves are an important management strategy in promoting judicious use of antibiotics, thereby minimizing antibiotic resistance. Given the reported benefits of bovine colostrum or immunoglobulin supplements in human and bovine studies and their potential use as nonantibiotic alternatives, investigations on their use for management of calf diarrhea are warranted. We hypothesized that oral supplementation with immunoglobulins in neonatal dairy calves with diarrhea will reduce treatment events, time to resolution of diarrhea, and mortality rates compared with placebo and control calves. The objectives of this study were to determine the effect of oral immunoglobulin supplementation for 14 days on the number of treatment events, time to resolution of diarrhea, and mortality rates in preweaned dairy calves with diarrhea.