1
|
Jafari A, Azarfar A, Ghorbani GR, Mirzaei M, Khan MA, Omidi-Mirzaei H, Pakdel A, Ghaffari MH. Effects of physical forms of starter and milk allowance on growth performance, ruminal fermentation, and blood metabolites of Holstein dairy calves. J Dairy Sci 2020; 103:11300-11313. [PMID: 33222852 DOI: 10.3168/jds.2020-18252] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2020] [Accepted: 06/30/2020] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
A 2 × 2 factorial study was conducted to evaluate the effects of milk allowance and physical forms of starter on growth performance, ruminal fermentation, and blood metabolites of Holstein dairy calves. A total of 48 calves [40.4 ± 1.55 kg of body weight (BW), n = 12 per treatment: 6 males and 6 females] were randomly assigned to 1 of the 4 treatments: (1) calves fed low milk allowance and finely ground (FG) starter feed [low-FG; 1.47 ± 2.12-mm geometric mean particle size (GMLP)], (2) calves fed low milk allowance and textured (TS) starter feed [low-TS, includes steam-flaked grains (corn and barley) with a pelleted supplement, GMLP 4.15 ± 1.77 mm], (3) calves fed high milk allowance and FG starter feed (high-FG); and (4) calves fed high milk allowance and TS starter feed (high-TS). The starter diets were blended with 7% of chopped alfalfa hay as a proportion of diet dry matter (DM). No milk refusal was observed in any treatments, and calves on both treatments were weaned from milk by wk 8 of the study using a gradual weaning procedure. We observed no interaction between milk allowance and physical forms of starter on feed intake, average daily gain, feed efficiency, BW, and structural growth. Calves fed high milk allowance had lower starter feed intake but greater feed efficiency and overall BW compared with those fed low allowance. Total DM intake and average daily gain were not different among treatments. Regardless of the physical form of starter feed, hip height, heart girth, the molar proportion of ruminal acetate, acetate to propionate ratio, plasma cholesterol, and high-density lipoprotein were greater, but ruminal total volatile fatty acids, the molar proportion of propionate, and plasma β-hydroxybutyrate were lower in calves fed high milk allowance compared with those fed low allowance. Regardless of the milk allowance, calves fed the FG starter feeds had greater blood urea nitrogen concentrations compared with calves fed the TS starter diets. In conclusion, both forms of the starter feeds can be used when calves are fed high milk allowance with no negative effect on their performance.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- A Jafari
- Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Lorestan University, PO Box 465, Khorramabad, 68151-44316, Iran
| | - A Azarfar
- Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Lorestan University, PO Box 465, Khorramabad, 68151-44316, Iran.
| | - G R Ghorbani
- Department of Animal Science, College of Agriculture, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan 84156-83111, Iran
| | - M Mirzaei
- Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Arak University, Arak 38156-88349, Iran
| | - M A Khan
- AgResearch Ltd., Grasslands Research Centre, Private Bag 11008, Palmerston North 4474, New Zealand
| | - H Omidi-Mirzaei
- Animal Science Research Department, Isfahan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, AREEO, Isfahan, Iran
| | - A Pakdel
- Department of Animal Science, Isfahan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, AREEO, Isfahan, Iran
| | - M H Ghaffari
- Institute of Animal Science, University of Bonn, 53111 Bonn, Germany
| |
Collapse
|