Replacing dietary starch with sugar and sodium-propionate has been reported to improve performance in ruminant animals. This experiment was conducted to determine the effects of replacing different sources of energy with barley grain in dairy calves′ starter on weaning, dry matter intake, average daily gain (ADG), feed efficiency, skeletal growth, and fecal score. A total of 21 male calves (42 ...

Problem statement: A high mortality rate (crude mortality 43.6%) of pre-weaned dairy calves resulted in unavailability of replacement heifers in Kuwait. Dairy producers resorted to import pregnant heifers for herd replacement. This study was undertaken to investigate the effects of dam vaccination and age, serum Immunoglobulin (Ig) on disease syndromes and mortality in preweaned calves. Approac...

 Take Home Messages  The most dramatic physiological changes occur during birth and death.  Calves born without assistance experience hypoxia (low arterial blood oxygen), acidosis, and frequently hypothermia. Dystocia calves experience the same changes but to a greater degree.  Dystocia has an immediate and prolonged effect on the health and productivity of calves.  Perinatal mortality due...

Megasphaera elsdenii converts lactate and glucose into butyrate, the main volatile fatty acid responsible of papillae development and may benefit calf performance. Twenty-six Holstein calves (BW = 34.5 ± 1.65 kg) were randomly assigned at birth to a control group (Meg0) and a group that received an oral dose of M. elsdenii NCIMB 41125 at 14 d of age (Meg14). Calves received colostrum for the fi...


 Pre-weaned beef and dairy calves that fail to receive mater­nal antibodies are more susceptible disease. A systematic review meta-analysis were performed evaluate the as­sociation between failed transfer of passive immunity (FTPI) disease in pre-weaned calves. Three data­bases searched for relevant studies evaluated diagnosed with FTPI at ≤8 days age recorded incidence pre-weaning. Twent...

OBJECTIVE The impact of forage feeding strategy on growth performance, ruminal fermentation and nutrient digestibility in post-weaning calves was investigated. METHODS Forty-five female Holstein calves (body weight [BW] = 79.79±0.38 kg) were enrolled in the 35-d study at one week after weaning and randomly assigned to one of three dietary treatments. All diets were fed as total mixed ration c...

Eight bull calves (four Holsteins and four Ayrshire calves with mean birth weight of 38.8 kg) were ruminally cannulated at 3 d of age and allocated to one of two weaning programs. All calves were fed colostrum for 3 d after birth and milk until weaning. Calves in the conventional-weaning program were fed a starter diet from 3 d of age and weaned at 6 wk of age. In the early-weaning program, cal...

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of weaning age on dry matter intake (DMI), average daily gain (ADG), feed efficiency (FE), feed cost (FC) and benefit index (BI) of Holstein calves reared under organic farming system. Thirty two Holstein calves were divided into two treatments: early weaning (EW) vs. late weaning (LW). Calves in the both groups were provided with whole mi...