The Level of Metabolic and Immunological Status of Newborn Calves under The Action of Timogen on The Body of Down-Calving Cows

Valerian I. Velikanov¹, Andrey V. Klyapnev¹, Leonid V. Kharitonov², Alexander S. Zenkin³ and Nataliya Yu. Kalyazina³

¹Nizhny Novgorod State Agricultural Academy, 97 Gagarin Prospect, Nizhny Novgorod, 603107, Russian Federation.

²All-Russia Institute of Animal Physiology, Biochemistry and Nutrition, Institute township, Borovsk 249013, Kaluga Region, Russian Federation.

³Ogarev Mordovia State University,68 Bolshevistskaya str., Saransk, 430005, Republic of Mordovia, Russian Federation.

DOI : http://dx.doi.org/10.13005/bbra/2159

ABSTRACT: The purpose of the current research was to determine possible effects of timogen on accumulation of immunoglobulins and other immunogenic factors in the mammary gland of cows before calving, their release with colostrum, as well as the impact of these factors on the level of metabolic and immunological status of newborn calves after feeding them with colostrum. The data are obtained in the experiments conducted at “Arsenyevskoye” (Kaluga region) and “Mir” (Dalnekonstantinovsky district of Nizhny Novgorod region) farming enterprises. The experiment is done in the spring and summer periods of 2015 testing down-calving cows and their new-born calves. The experiment was conducted in 2 stages. The studying objects of the 1^st stage were 8 down-calving cows of black-motley breed selected based on the principle of analogs, which were divided into control and experimental groups. Cows from the experimental group were exposed to intramuscular injection of timogen at a dose of 1.2 mg 3-6 days before calving. Control animals were injected subcutaneously with sodium chloride physiological solution according to the same pattern. Blood for research was taken from newborn calves one day and ten days after birth. Twenty-four hours after the start of feeding newborn calves with colostrum, elevated levels of immunoglobulins, total protein and hemoglobin were observed in their blood as compared to the calves from the control group. These differences persisted during 10 days after birth. The second stage of the experiment was conducted in the farming enterprise “Mir” of the Dalnekonstantinovsky district of Nizhny Novgorod region. The studies were performed according to the same scheme. Twelve down-calving cows were selected on the basis of the principle of analogs. Besides, blood analysis was conducted using additional morphological and immunological methods. Twenty-four hours after birth and feeding with colostrum, calves born from experimental cows, showed significantly increased number of erythrocytes and leukocytes, mainly at the cost of lymphocytes, as well as a higher level of total protein and its fractions, especially β- and γ-globulins, and increased bactericidal and lysozyme activity of blood serum.

KEYWORDS: metabolic and immunological status; down-calving cows; newborn calves; colostrum; timogen

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