Effects of once- versus twice-a-day feeding of pasteurized milk supplemented with yeast-derived feed additives on growth and health in female dairy calves

Abstract

The objective of this study was to compare the effects of feeding preweaning dairy calves pasteurized milk once or twice a day with or without a combination of yeast-derived products. Holstein heifer calves (n = 48) from The Pennsylvania State University dairy herd were fed 3.8 L of colostrum in 1 feeding and randomly assigned to 1 of 4 treatments (once-a-day milk feeding with or without live yeast culture and mannan-rich fraction and twice-a-day milk feeding with or without live yeast culture and mannan-rich fraction). All calves were fed 6 L of milk daily. Weekly growth measurements and blood samples were taken 3 h after the morning milk feeding for all animals. Growth measurement included body weight, hip width, and withers height. Calf starter refusal was recorded weekly, and a sample was taken to determine dry matter intake. Daily health scores were recorded for each calf using a standard scoring system. Intake, growth measurements, haptoglobin, and health scores data were analyzed using repeated measures analysis with calf included as a random variable. Preweaning average daily gain was 553.4 and 512.1 g/d for calves fed milk once and twice a day, respectively, and we found no difference between treatments. Preweaning calf starter intake was 242.3 and 198.7 g/d for calves fed milk once and twice a day, respectively, and we found no treatment differences. Preweaning calf starter intake was 224.3 and 216.6 g/d for calves fed yeast and without yeast, respectively. Withers height and hip width were similar in calves fed milk either once or twice a day; however, calves fed yeast tended to have greater withers height and hip width than control calves. Haptoglobin concentration as a measure of stress had least squares means of 4.0 and 9.5 ± 3.5 µg/mL for calves fed milk once or twice a day, respectively, and we found no difference among treatments. Scours score and total daily score were similar for calves fed milk once or twice a day. These results suggest that feeding milk once a day can be successfully applied to a calf feeding system and that yeast products may improve structural growth.

Symposium review: Colostrum management and calf nutrition for profitable and sustainable dairy farms

“…Body weight and withers height were the same for all groups regardless of weaning age or number of times fed per day with starter and water offered free choice at all times. The same effect of no difference in weight gain or structural growth was observed when Saldana et al (2019b) fed calves whole milk either once or twice daily at the same rate per day for all calves. These studies show that management changes can be made to minimize labor with no detrimental consequences on calf growth.…”

Influence of a Polyherbal Mixture in Dairy Calves: Growth Performance and Gene Expression

“…However, in an experiment with graded levels of RPC, intake showed a quadratic response parallel to the gain response (39). Changes in thoracic girth in intermediate doses indicate greater rumen development, but there are few reports where nutrients in the diet affected these variables, and generally, those changes are not noticeable (40)(41)(42).…”

The effects of manual and automated milk feeding methods on group-housed calf health, behaviour, growth and labour

“…Although large volumes of milk have been fed to calves with reasonable efficacy (e.g. once-a-day feeding (Saldana et al 2019)), it is also suggested that the greater the volume of milk offered at each feeding, the longer milk will remain in the abomasum (Bergstaller et al, 2017) and prolonged abomasal emptying may increase rates of digestive disorders (Songer and Miskimins, 2005). For this reason, provided a feeder is programmed to do so, it is possible that automatic feeding systems may utilise milk more efficiently due to the smaller portions being consumed more often, stimulating the movement of milk through the digestive system more quickly, perhaps resulting in a higher ADG (average daily gain).…”