Did you know that disinfecting the navel immediately after birth is a crucial first step in preventing other issues such as pneumonia and diarrhea? Young animal specialist Henk Sijtsma even considers navel disinfection one of the most important actions in the first few days!
“Disinfect the calf’s navel within one minute of birth,” Henk emphasizes. Research (Calf survival study, University of Wisconsin) shows that the mortality rate of calves whose navels are not disinfected is 2.5 times higher.
| calves (#) | mortality rate (%) | diarrhea treatment (%) | respiratory infection treatment | |
| desinfected | 269 | 7,1 | 30,5 | 5,2 |
| NOT desinfected | 132 | 18 | 22 | 18 |
| Source: Calf survival study. University of Wiconsin. | ||||
“The navel is an open wound. Through this route, unwanted pathogens can quickly enter the calf’s bloodstream and cause infections,” Henk explains. This not only refers to navel infections but also other issues such as joint infections and kidney infections. Additionally, the study results indicate that calves with disinfected navels required significantly fewer treatments for respiratory infections.
Specialist Henk Sijtsma:”Disinfecting the navel within the first minute helps prevent diarrhea in the first month and lung problems in the second month.”
Henk advises the following protocol:
