I found this interesting information on immunities in colostrum:
"colostrum with its antibody protection is only present in the first 24 hours of milk flow and newborns can only gain colostral immunity if they nurse during that time frame, and they are less than one day old. After that, it makes no difference how much or how little they nurse, they will not receive any more antibodies.
Many breeders and pet owners believe that as long as the puppy is nursing, she is gaining more protection. Wrong. Others feel that by allowing older puppies to nurse on a new mother immediately after she gives birth will give the young animals another dose of antibodies. Wrong again. Remember, the newborns cannot absorb antibodies after their digestive tract loses the ability to absorb large unaltered protein molecules. All the protection the animal has is what she received in that first day of life. Later on, we can only augment this by vaccination." |