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Substituting oat hay or maize silage for portion of alfalfa hay affects growth performance, ruminal fermentation, and nutrient digestibility of weaned calves

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...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Zou, Yang, Zou, XinPing, Li, XiZhi, Guo, Gang, Ji, Peng, Wang, Yan, Li, ShengLi, Wang, YaJing, Cao, ZhiJun
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Asian-Australasian Association of Animal Production Societies (AAAP) and Korean Society of Animal Science and Technology (KSAST) 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5838342/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28728373
http://dx.doi.org/10.5713/ajas.17.0210
Descripción
Sumario: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 containing 60% (dry matter [DM] basis) of basal starter feed and 40% (DM basis) of forage, but varied in composition of forage source including i) alfalfa (40% DM, AH); ii) alfalfa hay (26.7% DM)+oat hay (13.3% DM; OH); iii) alfalfa hay (26.7% DM)+corn silage (13.3% DM; WS). RESULTS: Dry matter intake was not different among treatment groups (p>0.05). However, BW (p<0.05) and average daily gain (p<0.05) of calves fed AH and OH were greater than WS-fed calves, whereas heart girth was greater in OH-fed calves than those fed AH and WS (p<0.05). Ruminal fermentation parameters including proportion of butyric acid, acetated-to-propionate ratio, concentration of total volatile fatty acid, protozoal protein, bacterial protein, and microbial protein in rumen were the highest in OH (p<0.05) and the lowest in WS. Compared with the AH and WS, feeding oat hay to postweaning calves increased crude protein digestibility (p<0.05), and decreased duration of diarrhea (p<0.05) and fecal index (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Our results suggested that partially replacing alfalfa hay with oat hay improved ruminal fermentation, nitrogen utilization, and reduced incidence of diarrhea in post-weaning dairy calves.