4.7 Article

Short communication: Red deer (Cervus elaphus) colostrum during its transition to milk

Journal

JOURNAL OF DAIRY SCIENCE
Volume 103, Issue 6, Pages 5662-5667

Publisher

ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC
DOI: 10.3168/jds.2019-17779

Keywords

colostrum; deer; immunoglobulins; milk composition; somatic cells

Funding

  1. Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad
  2. European Union Fund for Regional Development [RTC-2016-5327-2, MTM2017-86875-C31-R]
  3. Ramon y Cajal Fellowships, Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities [RyC-2014-16307]

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We studied changes in chemical composition, somatic cell count, and immunoglobulin G (IgG) and M (IgM) content in red deer (Cervus elaphus) colostrum during the transition to milk at different times after parturition (<5 h, 24 h, 48 h, 2 wk, and 4 wk). The production level was higher at 2 and 4 wk of lactation than during the first day after parturition, with intermediate values at 48 h postpartum. Fat content did not vary during the study period. However, total protein and casein contents were particularly high in the initial 5 h after parturition, decreasing to approximately 50% after 24 h postpartum. Conversely, lactose concentration was low in the beginning (<5 h), increasing gradually throughout the study. Similarly, dry matter dropped during the first 24 h and then remained constant throughout the study. Urea content decreased during the study, showing a slight recovery at 4 wk. Somatic cell count was higher during the first hours after parturition and gradually decreased throughout the study period. The IgG content was higher before 5 h postpartum than at 24 h postpartum. After 5 h, the level of IgG decreased progressively until it reached 0.18 mg/mL at 4 wk of lactation. We observed a similar pattern for IgM content, but it decreased more quickly than IgG and was not detected after 2 wk. In the case of deer, milk should be considered transitional from 24 to 48 h after parturition, and samples collected after 2 wk can be considered mature milk.

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