Lotito Daria, Pacifico Eleonora, Matuozzo Sara, Musco Nadia, Iommelli Piera, Zicarelli Fabio, Tudisco Raffaella, Infascelli Federico, Lombardi Pietro
Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Production, University of Napoli Federico II, 80100 Napoli, Italy.
Vet Sci. 2023 May 18;10(5):358. doi: 10.3390/vetsci10050358.
In this review, the composition, characteristics, and management of dairy buffalo calves were examined and compared with bovines. The neonatal period is critical for buffalo calves and is characterized by a high mortality rate (more than 40%). The early intake of high-quality colostrum (IgG > 50 mg/mL) is the one way to improve the immune system of calves (serum IgG > 10 mg/mL after 12 h), thus increasing their chances of survival. Mainly in intensive farms, the availability of high-quality colostrum is necessary; thus, good quality colostrum is often stored to provide newborn calves which cannot be fed by their mothers. Also, the manipulation of the immunological status of animals through vaccination has been depicted since the quality of colostrum tended to be influenced by vaccination against pathogens. Buffalo breeding is constantly expanding in Italy, mainly thanks to the Mozzarella cheese production that represents the excellence of the "Made in Italy" and is exported worldwide. Indeed, high calf mortality rates directly affect the profitability of the business. For these reasons, the aim of this review was to examine specific research on buffalo colostrum that, compared with other species, are scarce. Improving the knowledge of buffalo colostrum, in terms of characteristics and management, is critical to guarantee buffalo newborns' health in order to reduce their mortality rate. Importantly, considering the knowledge on cattle valid also for buffalo is a widespread, and often erroneous, habit in several fields, including colostrum feeding. Therefore, the two species were compared in this review.
在本综述中，对奶水牛犊牛的组成、特性及管理进行了研究，并与牛犊牛进行了比较。新生期对水牛犊牛至关重要，其特点是死亡率高（超过40%）。早期摄入高质量初乳（IgG>50mg/mL）是提高犊牛免疫系统的一种方法（12小时后血清IgG>10mg/mL），从而增加其存活几率。主要在集约化养殖场，高质量初乳的供应是必要的；因此，常储存优质初乳以提供无法由母亲哺乳的新生犊牛。此外，由于初乳质量往往受针对病原体的疫苗接种影响，通过疫苗接种对动物免疫状态的调控也已得到描述。在意大利，水牛养殖不断扩大，这主要归功于马苏里拉奶酪的生产，它代表了“意大利制造”的卓越品质并出口到世界各地。事实上，犊牛的高死亡率直接影响企业的盈利能力。出于这些原因，本综述的目的是研究关于水牛初乳的具体研究，与其他物种相比，这方面的研究较少。在特性和管理方面提高对水牛初乳的认识，对于保障水牛新生犊牛的健康以降低其死亡率至关重要。重要的是，认为关于牛的知识对水牛也同样适用，这在包括初乳喂养在内的多个领域是一种普遍且常出错的习惯。因此，本综述对这两个物种进行了比较。
