Health and growth of veal calves provided a fatty acid supplement and a dry teat

摘要

Veal calves are at a high risk of disease early in life,which can lead to poor growth. Research is neededto determine interventions that can reduce diseaseand promote the growth of veal calves. The aim ofthis study was to determine the effects of fatty acidsupplementation and the provision of a dry teat on theincidence of bovine respiratory disease (BRD), navel inflammation,and diarrhea, as well as calf growth. Uponarrival to a commercial veal facility (d 0), 240 Holsteinbull calves from 2 cohorts were randomly assigned to4 treatments using a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement (n =60/treatment): (1) milk replacer (MR) without fattyacid supplementation and without access to a dry teat(control), (2) MR with fatty acid supplementation (NeoTec5g,Provimi, Brookville, OH) and without accessto a dry teat (FAS), (3) MR without fatty acid supplementationand with access to a dry teat (TT), or (4)MR with fatty acid supplementation and with access toa dry teat (FAS+TT). Calves were housed in individualpens from 0 to 9 wk and then paired by treatment atwk 9. Milk replacer was fed twice daily using a stepupprogram. Fatty acid supplement was added to milkreplacer at a feeding rate of 0.5 g/kg of body weightper head per day for the FAS and FAS+TT groups.Health exams were conducted twice weekly for 6 wkto diagnose BRD, navel inflammation, and diarrhea.Body weight, body condition score (BCS), and structuralmeasurements were recorded at wk 0, 5, and 10.Average daily gain (ADG) was calculated for wk 1 to 5,wk 5 to 10, and wk 1 to 10. Health data were analyzedusing logistic regression and are reported as relativerisk. Body weight, BCS, and structural measurementswere analyzed using repeated-measures ANOVA, andADG was analyzed using a generalized linear model.There was no effect of FAS, TT, or their interactionon body weight or BCS. There was no effect of FASon ADG wk 1 to 5, wk 5 to 10, or wk 1 to 10. Therewas a tendency for TT to decrease ADG from wk 1 to5 but not from wk 5 to 10 or wk 1 to 10. There was atendency for the interaction of FAS and TT to decreaseADG for wk 1 to 5 but not for wk 5 to 10 and wk 1 to10. There was no effect of FAS, TT, or their interactionon the risk of BRD, diarrhea, or navel inflammation.We saw no effect of our interventions on calf health orgrowth. More research is needed to determine whetherother factors, such as failure of passive transfer, poorventilation, barren housing, and low milk allowance inthe first few weeks after arrival, may have affected theefficacy of our interventions.