Effects of maternal level of dietary cation-anion difference fed to prepartum nulliparous cows on offspring acid-base balance, metabolism, and growth

Abstract

The objectives were to determine the effects of dietary cation-anion difference (DCAD) fed to pregnant cows during the last 22 d of gestation on offspring acid-base balance, metabolism, growth, and health preweaning. A total of 132 nulliparous Holstein cows were enrolled at 250 (248 to 253) d of gestation in a randomized block design. Cows were blocked by genomic merit of energy-corrected milk yield and assigned randomly to diets varying in DCAD: +200 (P200, n = 43), −50 (N50, n = 45), or −150 (N150, n = 44) mEq/kg of dry matter (DM). Newborn calves (15 males and 28 females in P200, 22 males and 23 females in N50, and 18 males and 26 females in N150) were followed for the first 7 or 56 d of age if males or females, respectively. Measures of acid-base balance and concentrations of minerals in blood were measured in all calves on d 0 before colostrum feeding, and on d 1, 3, and 7. Each calf was fed 3.78 L of colostrum from the respective treatment, and apparent efficiency of IgG absorption was determined. All calves were weighed at birth, and females were weighed again at 21, 42, and 56 d of age. Concentrations in serum of total calcium (tCa), total magnesium (tMg), and total phosphorus (tP) were measured up to 56 d of age; intakes of milk and starter grain DM were measured daily from 21 to 56 d of age; and incidence of disease was recorded for the first 56 d of age in females. Treatment did not affect acid-base balance measured in all calves. Calves were born with metabolic and respiratory acidosis, which reversed by 1 d of age. In the first 24 h after birth, blood pH increased from 7.215 to 7.421 and bicarbonate from 26.2 to 31.7 mM, whereas partial pressure of CO 2 decreased from 64.1 to 48.7 mm of Hg in all treatments. Maternal DCAD did not affect colostrum IgG content fed to calves (P200 = 95.0 vs. N50 = 91.0 vs. N150 = 97.1 ± 4.1 g/L) or apparent efficiency of IgG absorption (P200 = 33.1 vs. N50 = 33.1 vs. N150 = 34.2 ± 1.9%). Males were born heavier than females, but maternal DCAD did not affect birth weight of all calves (P200 = 37.7 vs. N50 = 37.3 vs. N150 = 37.8 ± 0.7 kg) or daily weight gain in females in the first 56 d of life (P200 = 0.80 vs. N50 = 0.81 vs. N150 = 0.77 ± 0.03 kg/d). Treatment did not affect intake of milk (P200 = 1.11 vs. N50 = 1.04 vs. N150 = 1.19 ± 0.06 kg/d) or starter grain DM (P200 = 0.27 vs. N50 = 0.27 vs. N150 = 0.21 ± 0.06 kg/d), or measures of feed efficiency. Treatment did not affect concentrations of minerals in serum, morbidity, or age at morbidity. Manipulating the DCAD of pregnant nulliparous dams during late gestation did not affect offspring performance in the first 2 mo of age.

Beef embryos in dairy cows: calfhood growth of Angus-sired calves from Holstein, Jersey, and crossbred beef dams

“…Preweaning growth of beef and beef cross calves born to Holstein dams (H ET and A × H) was similar to the results of Orellana Rivas et al (2022) who found ADG of 0.60 to 0.65 kg/d until 63 d among Holstein calves feed 0.65 to 0.76 kg of milk dry matter per day. However, growth performance was lesser than that reported by Zimpel et al (2021) who found ADG of 0.77 to 0.81 kg/d until d 56 among Holstein calves and Welk et al (2022) who found ADG of 0.70 to 0.88 kg/d until 70 d. The calves feed by Zimpel et al consumed ~0.35 kg more milk dry matter per day than was offered to the calves in the present study, and the calves fed by Welk et al were offered twice the volume of milk offered to the calves in the present study. Growth of the calves in the present study was likely limited by quantity of milk dry matter offered in the first 2 mo of life.…”

Impacts of dairy cow nutrition precalving on calf health

“…There are conflicting results on the effects of feeding anionic diets to dairy cows precalving on calf acidosis, colostrum Ig absorption, and serum Ig concentration ( Quigley and Drewry, 1998 ). The most recent study by Zimpel et al (2021) found no effect of maternal DCAD on colostral Ig content or apparent efficiency of absorption of Ig or performance of dairy calves.…”

“…Studies in dairy cows have shown that peripartum maternal hypocalcemia is associated with increased incidence of neonate enteritis ( Hunter, 2015 ) and respiratory disease ( Wilhelm et al, 2017 ) and that feeding a low DCAD diet to dairy cows can result in increased incidence of diarrhea and treatments in their calves ( Rajaeerad et al, 2020 ). However, results may depend on the degree and duration of the DCAD as no effect on Ig absorption, calf morbidity, or performance was found in some recent dairy cow studies ( Collazos et al, 2017 ; Zimpel et al, 2021 ).…”