Effects of partial replacement of corn grain with lactose in calf starters on ruminal fermentation and growth performance

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate effects of partial replacement of dry ground corn with lactose in calf starters on dry matter intake, growth rate, ruminal pH, and volatile fatty acid profile. Sixty Holstein bull calves were raised on a high plane of nutrition program until 55 d of age. Calves were fed texturized calf starters containing 30.1% steam-flaked grains and lactose at 0 (control), 5, or 10% (n = 20 for each treatment) on a dry matter basis. All calves were fed treatment calf starters ad libitum from d 7 and kleingrass hay from d 35. Ruminal pH was measured continuously immediately after weaning (d 55-62) for 15 calves (n = 5 per treatment), and 3 wk after weaning (d 77 to 80) for the other 45 calves (n = 15 per treatment). Dry matter intake, growth performance, and ruminal pH variables were not affected by treatment. However, according to Spearman's correlation coefficient (r) analyses, lactose intake was positively correlated with dairy minimum ruminal pH (r = 0.306) for the data collected from d 77 to 80. Similarly, hay intake was not affected by treatment, but positively correlated with daily mean (r = 0.338) and maximum ruminal pH (r = 0.408) and negatively correlated with duration pH <5.8 (r = -0.329) and area pH <5.8 (r = -0.325), indicating that the variation in hay intake among animals might have masked treatment effects on ruminal pH. Ruminal molar ratio of acetate was higher (45.2 vs. 40.6%), and that of propionate was lower in 10% lactose than control (35.3 vs. 40.2%) for ruminal fluid collected on d 80; however, molar ratio of butyrate was not affected by treatment. These results indicate that lactose inclusion in calf starters up to 10% of dry matter might not affect dry matter intake and growth performance of calves, but that greater lactose and hay intake might be associated with higher ruminal pH.

The effect of tributyrin supplementation to milk replacer on plasma glucagon‐like peptide 2 concentrations in pre‐weaning calves

“…The starter and kleingrass DMI gradually increased from the beginning of the study and rapidly increased from 5 weeks after birth as weaning approached in both treatments (Time p < 0.01; Figure b,c), this is because the amount of MR fed was maximum from 3 to 6 weeks after birth and decreased thereafter (Time p < 0.01; Figure a). In our previous study, starter and hay DMI were higher in weaning transition period (42 to 55 days after birth) than in pre‐weaning period (7 to 41 days after birth) in calves fed MR according to the same feeding strategy as the current study (Saegusa et al, ), consistent with the present study. No effects of treatment and treatment by time interaction were observed for kleingrass DMI.…”

Plasma concentrations of glucagon-like peptide 1 and 2 in calves fed calf starters containing lactose

“…However, relative to the baseline (1 wk of age; Figure 4A), the plasma GLP-1 concentration was higher (P < 0.01) for the LAC10 (126.8 ± 6.34%) than for the LAC5 (68.5 ± 6.35%) and for the control (36.3 ± 6.06%), and for the LAC5 than for the control. In the present study, no difference was observed in starter and hay intake across the 3 treatment groups (Saegusa et al, 2017), indicating that higher relative values of GLP-1 concentration observed for LAC5 and LAC10 are likely attributed to lactose inclusion in calf starters. However, as we did not measure nutrient composition of orts, we cannot exclude a possibility that pellet containing lactose was sorted, and it should be noted that extent of sorting could affect results of the present study.…”

“…The procedures used in the present study were performed in accordance with principles and guidelines for animal use set by Hiroshima University, and all experimental procedures were approved by the Animal Care and Use Committee of Hiroshima University. The detailed procedure was described in a companion paper (Saegusa et al, 2017). Forty-five Holstein bull calves, BW of 46.7 ± 0.7 kg and 5.0 ± 0.1 d of age (mean ± SE), were born on March 20 to April 13, 2015 (n = 21) and May 7 to June 2, 2015 (n = 24).…”

“…Calves were fed calf starters from 1 wk of age, after the first blood sampling. Ingredient composition of calf starter formulations (% of DM) is shown in Table 1, which is adapted from a companion paper of Saegusa et al (2017). As shown in Table 1, lactose was included in the pelleted portion in the calf starter by partially replacing dry ground corn.…”

Symposium review: Re-evaluation of National Research Council energy estimates in calf starters

“…Simple sugars such as glucose or lactose increase butyrate production in the rumen without a significant effect on rumen pH (Chamberlain et al, 1993). However, Saegusa et al (2017) fed texturized CS containing 0, 5, or 10% lactose and reported no effect on ruminal butyrate concentrations, though increasing lactose increased molar proportion of acetate and minimum ruminal pH. Others have reported that replacing starch with sugars (e.g., molasses or glucose) increased growth (Atai and Harshbarger, 1965), increased plasma BHB , or altered rumen fermentation (Oltramari et al, 2016).…”