Analysis Conducted by Arkion® Life Sciences
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Calves are frequently fed calf milk replacer (CMR) before weaning, and these CMR’s are
formulated to provide the calf optimal nutrition. The protein source in the CMR can vary, for
example, spray dried plasma or whey protein concentrate, and almost all of these sources also provide IgG. However, the amount of IgG CMRs can provide and the antigen-specificity they possess is not well understood. Here, we profiled five milk components-only CMRs against nine antigens associated with different calf diseases (e.g., bovine rotavirus, E. coli, and different Salmonella strains).
We also simulated the addition of EggTek®-C to each milk replacer. EggTek-C is an egg
antibody (i.e., IgY) product, manufactured by Arkion Life Sciences, designed to help a calf’s
immune system by providing passive immunity against an array of early calf pathogens.
Addition of EggTek-C to a CMR can improve the CMR’s recognition of specific disease-causing antigens and help prevent the calf from getting sick. Indeed, when EggTek-C was added to the CMRs tested here, we saw increased responses for all antigens tested. This demonstrates inclusion of EggTek-C in a CMR can help increase the amount of passive immunity the calf receives and thus improve overall health of the calf.
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