Waste Milk from Antibiotic Treated Cows as Feed for Young Calves

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Abstract
Discard milk from cows treated with antibiotics for mastitis and other disorders was examined to determine if it could safely be fed to young calves. In trial 1 control calves were fed whole milk and the experimental group, waste milk; calf starter plus hay were offered ad lib. In trials 2 and 3 fermented colostrum was fed to controls and all groups were offered a dry complete feed. Trial 3 included 1 group fed waste milk to which .05% formaldehyde had been added prior to storage at ambient temperatures. Milks were fed to age 6 wk in trial 1 and 5 wk in trials 2 and 3. Total period of observation was from birth to age 8 wk. Growth by calves fed fresh waste milk was equal or superior to that by controls during the milk feeding period and to 8 wk. Calves fed the formalin preserved waste milk tended to reject it initially; this resulted in lowered food intakes and slower growth to age 5 wk. These calves tended to suffer mild nutritional scours. Other health problems were minimal. Fermented colostrum contained greater numbers of microorganisms than waste milk; it also tended to show low inhibitory activity as indicated by the disc assay test for antibiotics.