The objective of this study was to determine if feeding colostrum to newborn calves through an esophageal tube, compared with a nipple bottle, affects passive transfer of IgG and plasma glucagon-like peptide-2 (GLP-2) concentration. Twenty newborn Holstein bull calves (birth BW = 44.8 ± 4.13 kg; mean ± SD) were fed 3L of colostrum replacer (200 g IgG) through either an esophageal tube or nipple bottle at 2 h after birth. The following meals of pooled whole milk were fed at a volume of 3L at 12, 24, 36 and 48 h after birth. A 2” jugular catheter was placed in each calf 1 h after birth to allow frequent blood samples to be taken for analysis of IgG and GLP-2 concentrations. All response variables were evaluated for effect of colostrum feeding method using the ANOVA procedure of JMP 13. Maximum concentration (Cmax) of serum IgG was 24.2 and 24.7 ± 0.58 mg/mL, time to maximum concentration (Tmax) was 786 and 966 ± 161 min, and apparent efficiency of absorption of IgG (AEA) was 52.7 and 53.2 ± 1.63% for the bottle and tube treatments, respectively. There was no difference between treatments for serum IgG maximum concentration (P = 0.56), Tmax (P = 0.44), or AEA (P = 0.84). There was also no significant treatment effect on GLP-2 Cmax (P = 0.74), Tmax (P = 0.20), or area under the curve (P = 0.33). There was a significant time effect (P < 0.001), however, indicated by an increase in GLP-2 concentrations following colostrum feeding. These results indicated that feeding colostrum at a volume of 3L through either an esophageal tube or nipple bottle accomplishes successful passive transfer of IgG and increases GLP-2 plasma concentrations after colostrum feeding.