Dose-dependent effects of specific egg-yolk antibodies on diarrhea of newborn calves

In a field trial on a farm in Turkey, we tested whether specific egg-yolk antibodies had a prophylactic effect on neonatal diarrhea. Owing to its antibody spectrum, this egg powder was very suitable for this farm since mainly rotavirus was identified. Regardless of the dosage (2 g, 4 g, or 8 g egg powder), the calves (n = 164) which received specific egg-yolk antibodies via the whole egg during the first 14 days of life showed significant improvements in risk and duration of diarrhea and in body weight gain compared with calves of the control group (n = 80) which had not received any egg powder. These significant differences in body weight still persisted after 3 months of life. The mortality risk in the control group amounted to 8.8%, while in all egg powder groups (n = 164) only one calf died as a result of diarrhea. Breed-dependent differences in the parameters were not observed.