Research Summary - 2
Evaluation of the addition of a supplement containing IgY in regular milk feedings on health and performance outcomes and thoracic ultrasonography in dairy beef cross calves
| Date/Time: |
9/12/2025
14:30
|
| Author: |
Steve Foulke |
| Clinic: |
Heritage Vet Partners |
| City, State, ZIP: |
West Point, Ne 68788 |
S. Foulke, DVM, DABVP, MBS
1
;
D. Cummings, DVM, DABVP
1
;
D. Renter, DVM, PhD
3
;
A. Riad, DVM
2
;
1Heritage Vet Partners, West Point, NE 68788
2Cornerstone Veterinary Services, St. Henry, OH 45883
3Center for Outcomes Research and Epidemiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506
Introduction:
Non-antibiotic alternatives such as nutraceuticals, lactoferrins, and bacteriophages are being evaluated at as an option for veterinarians and producers when considering the treatment and control of neonatal calf diarrhea. The use of transition milk has been recently studied and found to reduce disease incidence and improve performance in calves. This requires the addition of bovine-derived immunoglobulin G (IgG), which can be expensive to collect and process. An alternative to IgG is the immunoglobulin Y (IgY), which is derived from avian species. IgY has been shown to be effective in multiple species, such as swine, mice, calves and humans. The objective of this clinical field trial was to evaluate the impact of the addition of an IgY containing product in regular milk feedings for the first 10 days of life in dairy cross calves focusing on health and performance metrics, treatment interventions, and lung scores via thoracic ultrasonography (TUS) at weaning.
Materials and methods:
Commercial dairy x beef calves (n=346) less than one week of age were acquired at a single commercial production site from multiple source farms. Calves were assigned off the truck to the IgY supplemented (SOL) experimental treatment group (n=166) or a control (CON) group (n=180). Calves assigned to the SOL group received the IgY supplement with regular milk feedings for ten days per manufacturer’s directions. The specific IgY supplement used in this trial was an egg product that contains IgY from chickens vaccinated against multiple microbes known to cause disease in calves.
Individual body weight was recorded at enrollment (Day 0) and again at weaning (Day 35-42) to determine total body weight gain and average daily gain (ADG). Thoracic ultrasonography (TUS) was performed on each calf at weaning (Day 48-49) by a trained veterinarian blinded to treatment groups using an Ibex Prod scanner with a linear head. Total interventions were recorded including all recorded treatments for any singular health event observed in an individual animal. Scours (1) was defined as any treatment intervention applied to an individual calf that met the case definition for scours. Scours (2) and (3) were subsequent treatment interventions recorded for any individual animal during the trial period. Statistical analyses were performed based on the primary objective and study design structure defined a priori in the protocol and using a dataset with treatment groups masked with the individual animal serving as the unit of replication (i.e. experimental unit) and assumed independent. For all results, model-adjusted means (at the original scale) and corresponding standard errors (SEM) are reported. Results are interpreted with an alpha-level of 0.05 with a tendency considered for a P value of 0.05 < P ≤ 0.10.
Results:
No statistically significant differences in ADG or total body weight gain were observed during the trial period. A significant difference was observed in the percentage of cumulative interventions for scours events (P=0.02) between the CON (66.67%) and SOL (53.33%) groups during the trial period. Additionally, there were significantly fewer interventions for a single scours event (Scours (1)) in the SOL group as compared to the CON group (P=0.02). The average of total interventions tended to be greater in the CON (1.26) group as compared to the SOL (1.05) group (P=0.10). The distribution of calves across the lung score categories was significantly different between the two experimental groups (P<0.01). Calves in the CON group had significantly more non-zero (abnormal) lung scores as compared to calves in the SOL group.
Significance:
The current clinical field trial demonstrated that supplementing regular milk feedings with a nutraceutical containing IgY resulted in the reduction of overall scours interventions, tended to reduce the total number of health interventions required, numerically reduced the number of antibiotic treatments, and improved overall calf lung health observed via TUS.
