title: Feeding acidified or sweet milk replacer to dairy calves.
abstract: The objective of this study was to compare performance of calves fed acidified milk replacer or regular (sweet) milk replacer twice daily at 10% of BW. Thirty-seven female Holstein calves were fed replacers reconstituted to 12.5% DM for 4 wk, At 28 d, half of the amounts of milk replacer consumed during wk 4 were fed during wk 5 and calves weaned from replacer at d 35 age. A pelleted starter feed was offered for ad libitum access throughout the 42-d trial. Body weight was recorded at birth, d 3 of age, and weekly thereafter. Fecal consistency scores were recorded. Other parameters were measured on d 3 and 42. Average daily gains (d 3 to 42) for calves fed sweet and acidified milk replacers were .33 and .38 kg/d. Starter consumption was similar for both treatments. Calves fed acidified milk replacer (d 3 to 28) had a lower (1.4 vs. 1.6) fecal consistency score than those fed sweet milk replacer (scale of 1 to 4, 1 = normal and 4 = watery). Benefits of feeding acidified milk replacer at 10% of BW per day may be in reducing the incidence of some infectious scours, although further experiments are needed to verify this.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana 61801.
authors.forename: E H
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Jaster
authors.forename: G C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: McCoy
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tomkins
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Davis
mesh_terms: D000821:Animal Feed; D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle / Q000254:growth & development*; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control*; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000662:veterinary*; D005260:Female; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D008892:Milk; D015430:Weight Gain