The present study was conducted to determine the optimum age of Holstein dairy calves for an effective inclusion of alfalfa hay (AH) in starter feed on performance, apparent digestibility and feeding behavior. A total of 40 Holstein dairy calves (20 female and 20 male) were used in a completely randomized design in which calves were randomly assigned to one of four different dietary treatments ...

Effect of Different Levels Density Flaked Corn on Growth Performance, Blood and Rumen Parameters Holstein Suckling Calves

Enrichment and direct (nonenrichment) rectoanal mucosal swab (RAMS) culture techniques were developed and compared to traditional fecal culture for the detection of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in experimentally infected and naturally infected cattle. Holstein steers (n = 16) orally dosed with E. coli O157:H7 were sampled after bacterial colonization starting 15 days postinoculation. Enrichment RAM...

Subpopulations of peripheral leukocytes and cytokine mRNA expression levels were evaluated in scouring and healthy Holstein calves (age 10 ± 5 days; n=42) treated with a probiotic consisting of Lactobacillus plantarum, Enterococcus faecium and Clostridium butyricum. The calves were assigned to the scouring or healthy group and then subdivided into pathogen-positive treated (n=8), pathogen-posit...

There is limited information on the effects and requirements of specific fatty acids for dairy calves. The starter diet based on corn and soybean meal, which is typical in the United States, is low in C(18:3), and the ratio of C(18:2) to C(18:3) is quite high relative to recommendations for human infants. Additionally, other functional fatty acids (C(20:4), C(20:5), C(22:6)) elongated from C(18...

We investigated the relationship between ruminal pH and bacteria in calves fed calf starter with and without forage during weaning transition. First, 16 Holstein bull calves were obtained from dairy farms and equipped with rumen cannulas by cannulation surgery. Then, calves (73.5 ± 4.2 kg; mean ± SE) were assigned to groups fed calf starter either with forage (HAY, n = 8) or without forage (CON...

First-parity Holstein (H), Normande-Holstein (NxH) crossbred, Montbeliarde-Holstein (MxH) crossbred and Scandinavian-Holstein (SxH) crossbred cows calving from June 2001 to December 2003 were compared for dystocia and stillbirths from seven California herds. Dystocia scores ranging from 1 (no assistance) to 5 (hard pull) and stillbirths (1 for alive and 0 for dead) were recorded for 1695 Holste...

The present study investigated the effect of heat-treated colostrum feeding on the bacterial colonization in calf small intestine of neonatal calves within the first 12h of life. Newborn Holstein bull calves (n=32) were assigned to 3 treatment groups and fed with either fresh colostrum (FC, n=12) or heat-treated (60°C, 60 min) colostrum (HC, n=12) soon after birth, whereas the control (NC, n=8)...

Holstein bull calves (n = 96) were purchased at approximately 7 d of age and were assigned to receive 400, 450, 500, and 550 g/d of milk replacer solids during wk 1 to 4, respectively. Treatments were nonmedicated milk replacer plus dried whey, medicated milk replacer (138 mg/kg of oxytetracycline and 276 mg/kg of neomycin) plus dried whey, or nonmedicated milk replacer plus whey processed with...