The effect of climatic housing and level of nutrition on the performance of calves

Williams, P. E. V.; Day, D. L.; Raven, A. M.; McLean, J. A.

doi:10.1017/s0003356100024910

Cited by 17 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Enhanced early life nutrition increases the growth of the calf (Terre et al, 2006;Borderas et al, 2009). It also improves disease resistance (Khan et al, 2007;Ollivett et al, 2012;Todd et al, 2017) and reduces mortality (Williams et al, 1981) because more energy and protein are available to support immune function (Chandra, 1997). As heavier calves had a lower risk of early mortality, enhancing the nutrition of calves before arrival at the veal facility may provide an opportunity to improve disease resistance and lower mortality.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Risk factors associated with mortality at a milk-fed veal calf facility: A prospective cohort study

Renaud

Duffield

LeBlanc

et al. 2018

Journal of Dairy Science

108

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The veal industry experiences calf losses during the growing period, which represents a challenge to animal welfare and profitability. Health status at arrival may be an important predictor of calf mortality. The objectives of this prospective cohort study were to describe the health status of calves arriving at a veal farm and determine the risk factors associated with early and late mortality. Using a standardized health scoring system, calves were evaluated immediately at arrival to a commercial milk-fed veal facility in Ontario, Canada. Weight at arrival and supplier of the calf were recorded. The calves were followed until death or the end of their production cycle. Two Cox proportional hazard models were built to explore factors associated with early (≤21 d following arrival) and late mortality (>21 d following arrival). A total of 4,825 calves were evaluated from November 2015 to September 2016. The overall mortality risk was 7%, with 42% of the deaths occurring in the first 21 d after arrival. An abnormal navel, dehydration, housing location within the farm, arriving in the summer, and the presence of a sunken flank were associated with increased hazard of early mortality. Drover-derived calves and calves with a greater body weight at arrival had lower hazard of early mortality. Housing location within the farm, being derived from auction facilities, and an abnormal navel were associated with higher hazard of late mortality. These results demonstrate that risk factors for mortality can be identified at arrival, which represents a potential opportunity to selectively intervene on these calves to reduce mortality. However, methods of preventing the development of these conditions before arrival need to be explored and encouraged to improve the welfare of the calves entering the veal industry.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Risk factors associated with mortality at a milk-fed veal calf facility: A prospective cohort study

Renaud

Duffield

LeBlanc

et al. 2018

Journal of Dairy Science

108

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“…It is well established that under-nutrition in humans impairs the immune response [ 92 ]. In calves, a higher plane of nutrition improves immune function [ 93 ] and also lowers mortality and the incidence of diarrhoea and pneumonia [ 94 - 96 ].…”

Section: Further Nutrition and Weaning Of The Dairy Calfmentioning

confidence: 99%

Calf health from birth to weaning. I. General aspects of disease prevention

et al. 2011

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“…Similarly, 6WW calves in the current study vocalized more than 8WW calves across the entire observation period. The increased vocalizations may be caused by the hunger associated with the lack of ME intake when weaning is performed too early, indicating malnutrition, significant health and welfare issues (Thomas et al, 2001;Dawkins, 2008;de Paula Vieira et al, 2008), and decreased immune function (Williams et al, 1981;Pollock et al, 1993;Nonnecke et al, 2003).…”

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confidence: 99%

Weaning age affects growth, feed intake, gastrointestinal development, and behavior in Holstein calves fed an elevated plane of nutrition during the preweaning stage

Eckert

Brown

Leslie

et al. 2015

Journal of Dairy Science

145

150

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Recent research has revealed potential advantages of feeding an elevated plane of nutrition to calves during the preweaning period. However, calves fed more nutrients preweaning may be more susceptible to depressed growth and weaning stress during the transition from liquid to solid feed. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between the age of weaning and feed intake, and its influence on growth, gastrointestinal development, and behavioral indicators in dairy calves fed an elevated plane of nutrition during the preweaning period. To meet this objective, 20 female Holstein calves were randomly assigned at birth to be weaned at 6 or 8 wk. Milk replacer (mixed at 150 g/L) was offered at 1.2 kg/calf per day in 2 meals until a 1-wk step-down, when meals were reduced by 50% 1 wk before weaning. Daily starter, chopped oat straw, water intake, and weekly body weights were measured until d 70 of life. To assess digestive tract development, rumen fluid, fecal, and blood samples were taken before and after weaning (d 35, 49, and 63) and analyzed for ruminal short-chain fatty acids, blood β-hydroxybutyrate, and fecal starch, respectively. Behavioral indicators of weaning stress, including vocalizing and non-nutritive oral behavior, were measured by visual observation for 1 h, 3 times per week, before the second feeding of the day during the period from 2 wk before weaning to 2 wk after weaning. The calves weaned at 8 wk compared with 6 wk had higher average daily gain for the week preweaning (0.79±0.09 vs. 0.34±0.10 kg/d) and postweaning (1.05±0.09 vs. 0.35±0.11 kg/d), and were heavier at d 70 (99.9±1.81 vs. 91.0±2.26 kg). From 5 to 8 wk of age, starter and water intakes were lower in calves weaned at 8 wk of age. However, overall starter intake did not differ during the last week of the experiment. Furthermore, calves weaned at 8 wk compared with 6 wk had higher starter intake for 1 wk preweaning (1.36±0.13 vs. 0.40±0.08 kg/d) and postweaning (2.51±0.20 vs. 1.16±0.15 kg/d). In both treatments, weaning increased ruminal short-chain fatty acids, blood β-hydroxybutyrate, and fecal starch, yet the differences between the week before and after weaning were greater for calves weaned at 6 wk compared with those weaned at 8 wk. Treatment × week relative to weaning interactions indicated that several behaviors varied between early- and later-weaned calves during the week before weaning; calves weaned at 6 wk tended to exhibit 75% more non-nutritive oral behavior and spent 55% less time ruminating, and 36% less time lying compared with calves weaned at 8 wk. Under the conditions of this study, the results suggest that calves fed an elevated plane of nutrition preweaning have higher starter intakes and average daily gain during the weaning period when weaning is extended from 6 to 8 wk of age.

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The effect of climatic housing and level of nutrition on the performance of calves

Cited by 17 publications

References 9 publications

Risk factors associated with mortality at a milk-fed veal calf facility: A prospective cohort study

Risk factors associated with mortality at a milk-fed veal calf facility: A prospective cohort study

Calf health from birth to weaning. I. General aspects of disease prevention

Weaning age affects growth, feed intake, gastrointestinal development, and behavior in Holstein calves fed an elevated plane of nutrition during the preweaning stage

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