title: Does adding water to dry calf starter improve performance during summer?
abstract: The objective of this study was to determine whether addition of water to starter would improve performance, rumen fermentation parameters, blood metabolites, and behavior in dairy calves. For this purpose, 30 Holstein male calves (3 d of age; 42.0 ± 4.2 kg of body weight) were randomly assigned to 1 of the following 3 starter diets differing in moisture content: (1) 90% dry matter (DM), (2) 75% DM, and (3) 50% DM. Weaning and final body weight values were found to increase linearly with increasing dietary water. Moreover, starter intake increased linearly during the preweaning and overall periods. Average daily gain also increased linearly in calves receiving the 75% and 50% DM diets compared with those receiving the 90% DM diet. However, treatments had no effects on gain-to-feed ratio. Adding water to a starter with 50% DM led to linear increases in both total volatile fatty acids and molar proportions of acetate and propionate in the rumen but it had no effect on the molar proportions of butyrate, isovalerate, or valerate, nor did it have any effect on acetate-to-propionate ratio. Similarly, times spent on eating, ruminating, standing, lying, and nonnutritive oral behavior exhibited no differences across treatments. Finally, addition of water to the starter diet led to no significant changes in the concentrations of selected blood metabolites, respiration rate, or rectal temperature. Results indicate that calves readily accept wetter feeds with a DM content of 50% and that adding water to starter diets improves calf performance during the hot months of summer.
authors.affiliation: FKA Agri-Animal Production Co., Isfahan, 13895-81799, Iran. Electronic address: hamedbeiran669@gmail.com.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Beiranvand
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Science, College of Agriculture, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, 84156-83111, Iran.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Khani
authors.affiliation: FKA Agri-Animal Production Co., Isfahan, 13895-81799, Iran.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Omidian
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Science, Khorramabad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Khorramabad, 68178-16645, Iran.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ariana
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Science, Saveh Branch, Islamic Azad University, Saveh, Iran.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rezvani
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Science, College of Agriculture, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, 84156-83111, Iran.
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Ghaffari
mesh_terms: D000821:Animal Feed / Q000032:analysis*; D000818:Animals; D001774:Blood Chemical Analysis / Q000662:veterinary; D004032:Diet / Q000662:veterinary*; D004734:Energy Metabolism / Q000187:drug effects; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000187:drug effects; D005285:Fermentation / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D012417:Rumen / Q000378:metabolism; D012621:Seasons; D014867:Water / Q000032:analysis*; D015430:Weight Gain / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D014867:Water
keywords: dairy calf; moisture level; performance