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Impacts of Reducing Protein Content in Milk Replacer on Growth Performance and Health of Young Calves.

ABSTRACT: In the present study, a drinking amount of 10 L of milk replacer (MR) was allowed to dairy calves in order to approach the natural drinking behavior. The question is: how much protein is required by calves in order to achieve an intended growth rate? For this reason, sixty-eight pre-weaned Holstein calves were divided into two groups and fed with 10 L/d of MR containing either 22% protein (MR22) or 19% protein (MR19) at an almost comparable energy intake. Effects on performance, metabolic status, and health were compared. Feed intake, growth performance, and health status were monitored during the pre-transition, transition, and postweaning phase (until 157 d of age). Total feed intake, and intake of MR, body weight (BW), and average daily gain (ADG) were not significantly different between MR22 and MR19 during the entire experimental period (p > 0.05). At d 42, calves in MR19 group showed greater serum levels of growth hormone (16.2 vs. 22.2 ng/mL; p = 0.02), insulin-like growth factor 1 (262 vs. 291 ng/mL; p = 0.03), and urea (2.86 vs. 3.04 mmol/L; p < 0.01). The results of the present study suggested that when high amounts of MR are provided, the protein content in MR can be reduced to 19% without any adverse effects on growth performance as well as on health status of dairy calves.

SUBMITTER: Schubert DC

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9312336 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Impacts of Reducing Protein Content in Milk Replacer on Growth Performance and Health of Young Calves.

Schubert Dana Carina DC Chuppava Bussarakam B Hoffmans Sandra S Pries Martin M Visscher Christian C Kamphues Josef J Abd El-Wahab Amr A

Animals : an open access journal from MDPI 20220708 14

In the present study, a drinking amount of 10 L of milk replacer (MR) was allowed to dairy calves in order to approach the natural drinking behavior. The question is: how much protein is required by calves in order to achieve an intended growth rate? For this reason, sixty-eight pre-weaned Holstein calves were divided into two groups and fed with 10 L/d of MR containing either 22% protein (MR22) or 19% protein (MR19) at an almost comparable energy intake. Effects on performance, metabolic status ...[more]

PMID: 35883303

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Project description:The objective of the experiment was to evaluate effects of increased milk replacer feeding on growth, intake, feed efficiency, and health parameters in stressed calves. Holstein bull calves (n = 120; approximately 3 to 8 d of age) were purchased from sale barns and dairy farms and housed in fiberglass hutches. In addition, wood shavings contaminated with coronavirus were mixed with clean shavings and added to each hutch before the start of the experiment. Calves were fed either a fixed amount (454 g/d) of a 20% crude protein (CP), 20% fat milk replacer to weaning at 28 d or a variable amount (454, 681, 908, and 454 g/d on d 0 to 7, 8 to 14, 15 to 31, and 32 to 41, respectively) of a milk replacer containing 28% CP and 17% fat without or with added dietary supplement containing bovine serum. Calves were also fed commercial calf starter and water ad libitum. Plasma IgG concentration in most calves on arrival at the facility was < 10 g/L. Intake, change in body weight, feed efficiency, morbidity and mortality, and selected plasma metabolites were determined. Body weight at 28 d, 56 d, daily body weight gain, intake of milk replacer, fecal scores, days with diarrhea, and days treated with antibiotics were increased with feeding variable amount of milk replacer over the 56-d study. Starter intake from d 1 to 56 was reduced from 919 to 717 g/d in calves fed fixed and variable amounts of milk replacer, respectively. Morbidity, measured as the number of days that calves had diarrhea, was increased by 53% when a variable amount of milk replacer was fed. Calves fed variable milk replacer were treated with antibiotics for 3.1 d compared with 1.9 d for calves fed 454 g of milk replacer/d. Concentrations of plasma glucose, urea N, and insulin-like growth factor-I were increased when calves were fed variable amount of milk replacer. Dietary supplement containing bovine serum had no effect on any parameter measured. There was no effect of milk replacer feeding on concentrations of nonesterified fatty acids, total protein, or growth hormone concentrations. Plasma tumor necrosis factor-alpha was highest in calves with the highest plasma IgG concentrations on the day of arrival and might be related to the calf's ability to identify pathogens in the environment. Under conditions of this study, calves fed variable amount of milk replacer and exposed to immunological challenge before weaning had greater BW gain, but also increased incidence of diarrhea that required added veterinary treatments.

Project description:Butyrate and its derivatives possess various nutritional and biological benefits for mammals, whereas its effects on dairy calves have not been well characterized. This study evaluated the effects of tributyrin administration on blood immune, intestinal immune and barrier functions, and microbial composition of pre-weaned dairy calves. Twenty newborn Holstein bull calves were randomly assigned into a control group (no tributyrin supplementation, CON; n = 10) or a treatment group (supplemented with tributyrin at 2 g/L of milk, TRB; n = 10). The results showed that diarrhea frequency was decreased significantly by tributyrin administration from d 29 to 56 (P < 0.001) and the whole period (P = 0.003, d 1 to 56) though no significant effects were observed on growth performance. For blood metabolites, tributyrin administration significantly reduced the concentration of interleukin-1β (IL-1β) on d 28 (P = 0.001) and tended to reduce the concentration of serum amyloid A on d 56 (P = 0.079), whereas serum oxidative status parameters were not affected. For intestinal development, tributyrin administration increased the villus height (P < 0.001) and the ratio of villus height to crypt depth (P = 0.046) in the jejunum, and the villus height in the ileum (P = 0.074). Furthermore, toll-like receptor 2 (TRL2, P = 0.045) and IL-1β (P = 0.088) gene expressions were downregulated, while claudin-4 (P = 0.022) gene expression was upregulated in the jejunum following tributyrin administration. In the ileum, claudin-4 (P = 0.029) and G-protein coupled receptor 41 (P = 0.019) gene expressions were upregulated in the TRB group compared to CON. No significantly higher abundances of microbiota were found in the jejunum or ileum of calves in the CON group. In the TRB group, supplementing tributyrin significantly increased the abundance of short-chain fatty acid (SCFA)-producing bacteria, including Ruminococcaceae, Lachnospiraceae, Prevotella and Rikenellaceae (LDA >3.5, P < 0.05), which was negatively associated with inflammatory gene expression (TLR2 and IL-1β) but positively associated with intestinal barrier genes (claudin-4) and morphological parameters (P < 0.05). In conclusion, supplementing tributyrin in milk replacer could improve intestinal development and health of pre-weaned dairy calves by stimulating SCFA-producing bacteria colonization, enhancing intestinal barrier functions and suppressing inflammatory responses.

Project description:ObjectiveThis research study aimed to determine whether preweaning plane of milk-replacer nutrition influences health, standing and oral behaviors, and performance of high-risk calves.Materials and MethodsThirty-six Holstein bull calves (1 d of age) from a commercial calf ranch were assigned to either a high plane of milk-replacer nutrition (HPN; n = 18; 20 and 28% DM lipid and protein, respectively, Cow’s Match, Land O’Lakes Animal Milk Protein Co., Shoreview, MN) or a low plane of milk-replacer nutrition (LPN; n = 18; 20% DM lipid and protein, Herd Maker, Land O’Lakes Animal Milk Protein Co.) through weaning. Total serum protein concentrations confirmed that 72 and 76% of calves had failure of passive transfer (<5.2 g/dL) in HPN and LPN, respectively. All calves were bottle fed twice daily. The LPN were fed 455 g of DM/d of milk replacer (MR) until weaning, and the HPN calves were fed 830 g of DM/d of milk replacer during the first 10 d and 1,080 g from 11 d until weaning. Calf starter and water were offered ad libitum. Calves were step-down weaned beginning at 51 d and completely weaned after 58 d when consuming 1 kg of calf starter (as-fed basis). Data are reported as HPN versus LPN throughout, respectively.Results and DiscussionRisk for bloat and scouring were greater for calves fed the HPN, but there was no difference in antibiotic treatment or mortality. The HPN calves had greater performance over the preweaning period including final BW, ADG, and feed:gain (total kg of milk replacer + calf starter, kg of DM/kg of BW gain), but weaning was more stressful for HPN calves.Implications and ApplicationsIn conclusion, the high-risk calves fed a HPN had increased preweaning ADG, but there was also an increased incidence of scours. There may be differences in the health status of calves that may affect the ability to consume and use high MR levels. When feeding high-risk calves there may be a need for alternate strategies when determining the quality and quantity of MR being fed when compared with low-risk calves. Differences in gut integrity may influence the ability of high-risk calves to handle high levels of MR early in life. Potential issues with high-risk calves being fed a HPN might be reduced with increased feeding times per day, a gradual step-up method, or other nutritional strategies that improve gastrointestinal development and function.

Dataset Information

Impacts of Reducing Protein Content in Milk Replacer on Growth Performance and Health of Young Calves.

Publications

Impacts of Reducing Protein Content in Milk Replacer on Growth Performance and Health of Young Calves.

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