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First Start 100 La Belle Bovine IgG Colostrum Replacer
Dried bovine colostrum replacer with 100 grams of bovine-origin IgG per dose, for newborn calves that get no usable maternal colostrum.
Details
This is the replacer strength of La Belle's First Start line: 100 grams of bovine-origin IgG per dose, made from true bovine colostrum, intended to aid in the treatment of failure of passive transfer of immunity in neonatal calves. It is the one to reach for when a calf has had no usable colostrum at all. If the calf did get some from its dam and only needs topping up, the First Start 50 supplement (50 g IgG) is the lighter-duty option. A calf is born with essentially no antibodies of its own and a gut that can absorb them whole for only a short window — best in the first few hours, largely closed by around twenty-four. What it takes in during that window decides how it handles scours and pneumonia for months. Nothing beats three to four litres of good-quality colostrum from its own dam, promptly. But heifers with little colostrum, a hard calving, mastitis, twins, a cow that dies, or a calf that simply will not suck are all routine, and that is what a product like this is for. The single most important thing to check is the grams of IgG per dose on the label, because the industry uses two very different categories of product. A colostrum replacer carries enough IgG — generally in the range of 100 to 150 grams or more — to be the calf's only source. A supplement carries considerably less and is designed to top up colostrum the calf has already had. Feeding a supplement to a calf that got nothing at all leaves it inadequately protected, and that calf will very likely be the one you are treating in three weeks. Read the label and know which one you are holding. Mix it exactly as directed, with water at the temperature specified, and feed it warm and promptly. Too hot damages the antibodies and too cold means the calf will not take it well. Get it in as early as you can — the difference between two hours old and eight hours old is large. Keep the pail sealed and dry, and mix only what you will feed. Your veterinarian can blood-test calves for transfer of immunity, which is the only real way to know whether your colostrum program is working. If calves are repeatedly needing this, the question worth asking is why.
