Yes, there is a scientific device that measures lactation output

This preternaturally adorable cow just finished being milked at the UNH Fairchild Dairy Teaching and Research Center, one of the sites of the research study. (credit: UNH)

This isn't about the cow milk that you and I enjoy. It's about the most important kind of milk, which baby mammals drink right after they are born. Like humans, cows produce a nutrient-rich milk called colostrum in the days after birth—it's full of proteins and antibodies that are crucial for calves' future health. But not all colostrum is made equal.

A new study of cow colostrum at the University of New Hampshire used a specialized device called a colostrometer to measure the density of cow colostrom. The denser this thick, yellow liquid is, the more likely it is to be packed with key antibodies like Immunoglobulin G (IgG) that help build up the infant animal's immune system. The device itself isn't particularly fancy—you simply dunk it in a tube of colostrum to see whether it floats.

Here are two extremely matter-of-fact British farmers explaining how to measure colostrum quality with a refractometer (a more general-purpose device) and a colostrometer.

By measuring colostrum quality in their research herd, the scientists discovered that cows have lower-quality colostrum in winter. They believe that this is because warmer temperatures cause the cows' blood vessels to dilate and become more permeable, allowing the antibody IgG to pass into the blood—and from there, into the cow's colostrum. They also found that a cow's lactation history was a key indicator of future colostrum quality.

Read 3 remaining paragraphs | Comments