Performance of Holstein calves fed milk-replacer and starter mixture supplemented with probiotic feed additive

Abstract

The aim of a study was to determine the efficacy of the microbial feed additive containing spores of Bacillus licheniformis and Bacillus subtilis (BioPlus 2B ® ) on performance and health status of rearing calves. Sixty four female Holstein calves, aged on average 16.7 ± 4.5 days, were randomly assigned into two groups of 32 animals: control (C) and BioPlus 2B ® (BP). Milk replacer (MR) and starter mixture (SM) fed to BP group contained 1.32 × 10 9 (±3.2%) and 1.13 × 10 9 (±11.5%) spores of Bacilli strains, respectively. Each calf was fed with 2.25 l of MR two times a day for eight weeks, up to the age of approximately 10 weeks. Starter diet (SD) offered to calves consisted of SM and whole maize grain, which were mixed in ratio 50:50 (wt/wt). Intake of MR was equal in both groups, but SD intake was higher in the whole experiment in the BP group (1075 vs 951 g/d; P<0.01). The BP calves grew faster than C ones in the whole trial (P=0.05), but especially in weeks 3-4 (P<0.05). At the end of the trial the BP calves were about 2.9 kg heavier than the C ones (P<0.001). Feed efficiency, calculated as consumption of ME (MJ) or crude protein (g), was not different between treatments. There were also no differences in the health status and faecal score between treatments. The results of this study suggest the beneficial effect of microbial feed additive containing spores of Bacillus licheniformis and Bacillus subtilis for rearing calves. PROBIOTIC FEED ADDITIVE -CALF PERFORMANCE

Effect of feeding the combination with Lactobacillus plantarum and Bacillus subtilis on fecal microflora and diarrhea incidence of Korean native calves

“…In LB-treatment group for 4 weeks, fecal scores and the duration of diarrhea were significantly decreased compared with the control group (P＜0.05). Kowalski et al (2009) reported that fecal scores in female Holstein calves treated with two Bacillus species for eight weeks was not significantly different compared to those in control. Additionally, Abu-Tarbush et al (1996) reported that fecal scores in Holstein bull calves administered with a mixture of L. acidophilus and L. plunturum for nine weeks were not different with those in control.…”

Desempenho de bezerros leiteiros recebendo probiótico contendo <i>Bacillus subtilis</i> e <i>Bacillus licheniformis</i>

“…Os microrganismos utilizados têm mostrado eficácia com relação a microbiota intestinal, melhorando consumo de alimentos, taxa de conversão alimentar, ganho de peso diário e peso vivo em aves, suínos, ovinos, caprinos, bovinos e equinos (CHIOFALO et al, 2004;LI et al, 2006;TORRES-RODRIGUEZ et al, 2007;SAMLI et al, 2007;CASEY et al, 2007 (KAWAKAMI et al, 2010;KOWALSKI et al, 2009;JATKAUSKAS et al, 2010;SOLO et al, 2014), diminuição na incidência de diarreia (BATISTA et al, 2008;JATKAUSKAS et al, 2010;KIM et al, 2011), enquanto outros autores não tiveram efeitos significativos (BAYATKOUHSAR et al, 2013;FRIZZO et al, 2010). O que alguns deles salienta é que os efeitos esperados dos probióticos ficam mais expressivos quando os animais estão sob estresse (TIMMERMAN et al, 2005;CRUYAGEN et al, 1995, RIDELL et al, 2010, o que ocorre geralmente até as 2 primeiras semanas de vida.…”

“…Alguns destes trabalhos mostram melhora no desempenho dos 16 animais (KAWAKAMI et al, 2010;KOWALSKI et al, 2009;JATKAUSKAS et al, 2010;SOLO et al, 2014), diminuição na incidência de diarreia (BATISTA et al, 2008;JATKAUSKAS et al, 2010;KIM et al, 2011), enquanto outros autores não tiveram efeitos significativos (BAYATKOUHSAR et al, 2013;FRIZZO et al, 2010). O se destaca em alguns destes trabalhos é que os efeitos esperados dos probióticos apresentam-se mais significativos quando os animais estão sob estresse (TIMMERMAN et al, 2005;CRUYAGEN et al, 1995, RIDELL et al, 2010 (REBER et al, 2006).…”

Response of ruminant health and growth to the probiotic Bacillus amyloliquefaciens

“…The few studies that have used Bacillus spp. did pre-inoculate the pellets by incorporating it during manufacture but also mixed the probiotic daily into the milk (Kowalski et al 2009;Riddell et al 2010) (Table 1.1). Hence, the value of inoculation using bacterial spores such as those from Bacillus spp.…”

“…Probiotics can reduce digestive disorders and thus improve the health status and growth performance of ruminants. Supplementation with probiotics can reduce the incidence of diarrhoea and increase the dry matter intake (DMI) and daily weight gain (DWG) of pre-weaned ruminants (Kowalski et al 2009;Frizzo et al 2010b;Sun et al 2010a). Probiotics can also increase milk production and milk quality in lactating cows (Qiao et al 2010;Peng et al 2012).…”