Calf and colostrum management practices on New Zealand dairy farms and their associations with concentrations of total protein in calf serum.

Very few herd-level variables were associated with concentrations of TP in serum. Risk factors that have been shown to be of importance in previous studies outside New Zealand were not identified as important in the current study. It is possible that, in the situation where calves are kept at pasture with their dams for prolonged periods, variables which influence how well a cow can feed its calf in the first 12-24 hours have a larger influence on concentrations of TP in serum than the collection and management of calves once they reach the rearing shed.