alireza aghashahi; hadi hosseini; sayed abdoullah hosseini; AMIRREZA SAFAEI; Ali Reza Yousefi; Jafar Ramazankhany
Volume 21, Issue 3 , September 2019, , Pages 329-337
Abstract
This study was aimed to investigate the effect of adding dried dairy wastes to the starter diet on growth performance in Holstein dairy calves. A total of 28 female newborn Holstein dairy calves were randomly allocated to four groups (n=7/group) and after two weeks of habituation to experimental conditions ...
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This study was aimed to investigate the effect of adding dried dairy wastes to the starter diet on growth performance in Holstein dairy calves. A total of 28 female newborn Holstein dairy calves were randomly allocated to four groups (n=7/group) and after two weeks of habituation to experimental conditions and diet, in a completely randomized design, individually fed starter diets containing 0 (control), 10, 20, or 30% dried dairy waste up to eight weeks of age. Feed intake, weight gain, and feed efficiency (gained weight/consumed feed) were measured weekly, during the experimental period. Results showed that body weight, weight gain, feed intake, and feed efficiency were not affected by the treatments. Interactive effect of treatments by week showed that the highest weight gain was for calves fed by the diet containing 10% dairy waste or control group at first week. However, the highest gain was recorded for those that received 30% dairy waste at week five of the experiment (P<0.05). In conclusion, the results of the present study revealed that the inclusion of dried dairy products up to 30% of calves’ starter diet had no adverse effect on performance, and therefore can be used as an affordable and valuable nutritional by-product of the dairy industry in the nutrition of calves.
Mohammad Heidarian; JAvad Bayad Koohsar; Youssef Moostafloo; Balal Sadeghi; Farid Moslemipoor
Volume 18, Issue 3 , October 2016, , Pages 461-475
Abstract
In order to compare the effects of different weaning strategies on feed intake, structural growth measurement and health, blood metabolites and economic efficiency of young dairy calves, twenty four female Holstein calves were used. Calves after birth were randomly assigned into one of three weaning ...
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In order to compare the effects of different weaning strategies on feed intake, structural growth measurement and health, blood metabolites and economic efficiency of young dairy calves, twenty four female Holstein calves were used. Calves after birth were randomly assigned into one of three weaning strategy as follow: 1) weaning based on feed intake, 2) weaning based on weight gain (30 kg weight gain compared to the birth weight), and 3) weaning based on age (at 90 days of age). Starter intake measurement and fecal scoring conducted daily. Calves were weighed weekly and blood samples were obtained on days 21, 42, 60 and 90 after birth. Results showed that there were significant differences among different weaning strategies on average weaning age and milk consumption (p<0.05). All treatments had similar average daily weight gain, average daily feed intake, final weight and structural growth measurements. Calves weaned based on feed intake had lowest ruminal pH and N-NH3 concentration and blood urea nitrogen on day 90 (p<0.05). There were differences between groups on milk cost and total cost (milk + feed) and feed cost per kg of BW gain, so that Weaning based of feed intake compared to weaning based on weight and age saved up to 6000 and 3000 Rials per kg of body weight, respectively. Generally, similar growth and performance among different weaning strategies as well as reduction the cost of raising of calves indicated that calves weaning based on feed intake can be profitable approach.