Performance of Holstein calves fed whole milk with or without kefir

Abstract

A growing body of evidence suggests health-promoting effects of kefir consumption on different nonruminant species, leading to the speculation that kefir may act as a probiotic and benefit calf performance and health. Our objectives were to determine effects of feeding kefir on performance and health of calves in the first 70d of life. Thirty 3-d-old female Holstein calves (body weight=38.2±3.1kg) were blocked by initial body weight and assigned randomly to 1 of 3 treatments (1 calf per pen; 10 pens per treatment). Kefir was added to whole milk (vol/vol) at 0:1 (control; KF0), 1:3 (KF1), or 1:1 (KF2) and fed twice per day (0800 and 1600h) from d3 through 45 and then once per day until weaning, which occurred on d50. Pre- and postweaning intake of starter, daily body weight gain, and gain-to-feed ratio exhibited no difference among treatments. Adding kefir to whole milk fed directly to calves had no effect on concentration of blood metabolites collected on d20, 40, and 70. Body length on d50 (weaning) and 70 was greater in kefir-fed calves. Kefir intake improved fecal scores and reduced days with diarrhea during the first 2wk of life. Apparent digestibility of organic matter, ether extract, crude protein, and neutral detergent fiber remained unaffected by treatment. Overall, it appears that directly feeding kefir to calves during the preweaning period did not improve the performance of calves under the conditions of the current study; however, its consumption marginally improved body length and fecal consistency in the first weeks of life, which is an important concern in intensive calf-rearing systems. Feeding kefir to neonatal calves may be a viable approach to improve the health of calves in commercial calf-rearing operations, although to validate its health-promoting effects additional research is needed to investigate its effects under different calf-rearing conditions.

Microbial Inoculum Composition and Pre-weaned Dairy Calf Age Alter the Developing Rumen Microbial Environment

“…The developing rumen of the dairy calf provides a potential opportune period to direct microbial establishment (Yáñez-Ruiz et al, 2015). Early dietary interventions, probiotics, and adult rumen contents have been used in an attempt to modify the rumen and fecal microbial communities of young ruminants (Schönhusen et al, 2003; Ishaq et al, 2015; Fouladgar et al, 2016; Zhang et al, 2017). Rumen contents inoculated into calves have included the use of mixed ruminal microbiota from either whole rumen fluid or a ruminal bolus.…”

Phenolic content and antioxidant activity of donkey milk kefir fortified with sulla honey and rosemary essential oil during refrigerated storage

“…In fact, its regular consumption has been related to many health benefits (Ahmed et al 2013). Moreover, Fouladgar et al (2016) showed that the intake of kefir by neonatal calves improved productivity and health. The antioxidant capacity of kefir could be due to its protondonating ability, its reducing power, and SODlike activity (Liu et al 2005).…”

Direct evidence of preventive effect of severe diarrhea in calf by milk replacer-based probiotic feeding

“…In dairy industry, calf diarrhea has been causing considerable economic losses because of calf mortality, weight loss in surviving calves all over the world, including Hokkaido. Several probiotics have been used as preventive or supportive therapy for dairy cattle and neonatal calf for a long time, and previous reports indicated the bene t calf performance and health [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]. Fermented milk, an old probiotics for dairy cattle, provides several clinical bene ts for calf breeding, and has been widely used as economical and safe probiotics [26][27][28].…”