Antioxidant nutrients are involved in a large number of the dairy cow's biological systems. As a result, inadequate intakes of these nutrients can lead to a variety of health disorders. The various antioxidant nutrients act together. In some cases, low intakes of one nutrient may be partially offset by higher intakes of another. In other cases, the beneficial effects of certain antioxidant nutrients may not be observed if another antioxidant nutrient is not present in adequate quantities. To learn more about how the various antioxidant nutrients interact to provide optimal health and milk quality, read article: Antioxidant Nutrients, Cow Health, and Milk Quality >>

Another paper discusses the immune system, comprised of both innate and acquired components, is responsible for responding to and protecting against infection. Natural defenses: Different responses for different bacteria >>

Whether you're entering the heat of summer or the cold of winter, extreme temperatures are likely to result in more sickness among calves. Recently posted papers on milkproduction.com deal with calf health issues. To start calves off right requires good passive transfer of immunity from colostrum. Most of us think about quality and quantity of colostrum, but seldom do we consider the potential risk for transferring disease when feeding colostrum. This is the subject of a recent paper titled; Colostrum biosecurity >>

Sometimes calves get ill in spite of vaccinations or get sicker in spite of antibiotic treatment. What is happening here? In some cases, mishandling of the vaccine or antibiotics has caused them to lose their efficacy. "7 reasons vaccines fail" and "9 reasons antibiotics fail" discuss common mishandling problems that can reduce vaccination and treatment efficacy.