Effect of amount of milk replacer fed and the processing of corn in starter on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and rumen and fecal fibrolytic bacteria of dairy calves

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate effects of milk replacer (MR) feeding rate and processing of corn in calf starter (CS) on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and rumen and fecal fibrolytic bacteria in dairy calves. Holstein male calves (n = 48, 2-3 d of age) were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 treatments with a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement of MR level of 0.749 kg of MR/d (LO) or up to 1.498 kg of MR/d (HI); and whole corn or flaked corn in textured CS. Calves were weaned by reducing MR offered by 50% during wk 6. Intakes of MR and CS were recorded daily, whereas body weight (BW) was measured weekly. Rumen fluid and fecal matter were collected at wk 5 and 8 to quantify fibrolytic bacteria and nutrient digestibility. Data were analyzed as a completely randomized design using mixed model ANOVA. Repeated measures were used as appropriate. Calves fed HI had greater average daily gain than calves fed LO at wk 2, 3, 4, and 5, yet at wk 7 calves fed HI had lower average daily gain compared with calves fed LO. Starter intake was greater for calves fed LO compared with HI at wk 4, 5, 6, and 7. During wk 5 and 8, calves fed LO had increased ADF and NDF digestibility compared with calves fed HI. During wk 5, dry matter and organic matter digestibility were lower for LO-fed calves compared with HI-fed calves, but during wk 8 the opposite was observed, with HIfed calves having lower dry matter and organic matter digestibility than LO-fed calves. At wk 5, Clostridium cluster IV and Butyrivibrio fibrisolvens proportions in rumen fluid tended to be higher and Clostridium cluster IV, Fecalibacterium sp., and Prevotella sp. proportions in fecal matter were higher in calves fed LO compared with HI. From wk 8 to 16, dry matter intake was unaffected by treatment; however, energy efficiency was greater in calves fed LO, causing LO calves to have higher BW gain during this period. Greater starter digestibility was observed for calves fed LO versus HI in concert with increased fibrolytic bacteria proportions (wk 5) in fecal and rumen samples, which resulted in greater postweaning BW gain and similar BW and frame measurements by 16 wk of age. Overall the results show that rate of MR feeding has a larger effect than the processing of corn in CS on performance, fiber digestibility, and rumen and fecal fibrolytic bacterial communities.

Effects of 2 liquid feeding rates over the first 3 months of life on whole-body energy metabolism and energy use efficiency of dairy calves up to 5 months

“…In line with previous studies, temporarily higher glucose and TG concentrations were observed with an intensified MR feeding rate of solids at approximately 0.75 kg/d relative to ad libitum feeding (Schäff et al, 2016;Frieten et al, 2017). Plasma BHB concentrations, an indicator of rumen development and starter intake, increase with SF intake (Deelen et al, 2016) and accordingly BHB paralleled SF intake in our study (Tümmler et al, 2020). The higher plasma NEFA concentrations in 10%-MR calves preweaning in wk 2 are in parallel with the findings of Schäff et al (2016) and Frieten et al (2017), who compared MR feeding rates of solids at approximately 0.75 kg/d with ad libitum feeding.…”

“…The higher MEI and MEI/mBW reflect the overall improved energy and nutrient supply in 20%-MR fed calves, thus providing the condition for a potential metabolic imprinting as proposed in the review by Soberon and Van Amburgh (2013). The lower MR intake in the 10%-MR group lead to higher DMI of SF (hay, concentrate, and TMR) preweaning in wk 6 to 10, whereas postweaning DMI levels of SF were mostly higher in the 20%-MR group (Tümmler et al, 2020). Although the 10%-MR fed group revealed higher DMI of SF preweaning, which was similarly observed as a linear increase of forage intake with MR reduction (Broesder et al, 1990) or in a model for starter intake (Silva et al, 2019), this effect was not sufficient to compensate for the lower energy intake with MR in this group.…”

“…Intakes of starter, hay, and TMR were determined daily by manually weighing the offered feed and residual on the following day. Feed intake data were previously published (Tümmler et al, 2020).…”

Differing planes of pre- and postweaning phase nutrition in Holstein heifers: I. Effects on feed intake, growth efficiency, and metabolic and development indicators

“…In summary, increased total and specific VFA concentrations, in combination with the notably low levels of fecal starch, may reflect both the starch and fiber levels of the dry diet, as well as the smooth transition to the postweaning diet. These low levels of fecal starch and smooth weaning transition may have led to greater capacity for forestomach starch digestion compared with other studies that weaned calves abruptly and report elevated fecal starch during the weeks and months following weaning van Niekerk et al, 2020).…”

Preweaning to postweaning rumen papillae structural growth, ruminal fermentation characteristics, and acute-phase proteins in calves

“…Because calves were unable to consume enough ME from CS, calf performance was depressed and no differences were observed in calf BW for wk 5, 6, 7, and 8. Growth depression during weaning has been reported by others in calves fed a high MR feeding rate preweaning (Cowles et al, 2006;van Niekerk et al, 2020). It is important to note that the time of weaning and the weaning method also play key roles in CS intake and performance (Meale et al, 2015;Steele et al, 2017;Welboren et al, 2019).…”