ISSUE FOCUS 22 FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE November 2023 “The weaning transition is a major challenge in calf management. With a proper plan for nutrition (milk and solid feed), producers can help support calves at this critical period to safeguard future performance, health and longevity.” Calf management is crucial and will influence the performance of the the adult cow. Replacement costs can be critical to determining profit or loss on dairy farms. One way to reduce this cost is lowering the age at first calving. Actions that contribute to the reproductive performance of heifers can improve the financial position of the farm overall. In addition, supporting greater milk production during the first lactation helps investments in heifers reach economic equilibrium earlier. Research (Abuelo et al. 2021) shows heifers affected by diarrhea as calves showed lower average daily gain at weaning and a lower first lactation performance with -325 kg of milk when looking at the 305 day mature equivalent (ME) milk production standardized value. In addition, heifers diagnosed with diarrhea and bovine respiratory disease (BRD) rend to have increased difficulty at insemination and during calving. The weaning transition is a major challenge in calf management. With a proper plan for nutrition (milk and solid feed), producers can help support calves at this critical period to safeguard future performance, health and longevity. EARLY RUMEN DEVELOPMENT IS THE KEY TO LONG-TERM PERFORMANCE This is the period when the digestive tract of calves undergoes significant and extensive changes as it evolves from its initial monogastric function towards a ruminant function. During the first days of life, milk is the single dietary compound of the baby calf diet. The baby calf reticulo-rumen is bypassed. The rumen starts from a volume of 0.5L to 4L at 4 months of age and will grow drastically to 100-150L in the adult cow. In addition, the rumen papillae will develop with the rumen. Knowing that the papillae surface represents the rumen nutrient absorption surface, it is important to take care of its development for an optimal nutrient absorption in the adult cow. Rumen papillae development is strongly linked to the diet and rumen microbiota of calves during the first month of life (Chaucheyras-Durand et. al, 2001). Feeding solid grain will nurture the microbiota that will produce propionic acid and butyric acid. These two volatile fatty acids (VFAs) will stimulate papillae development. ENSURING AN OPTIMAL WEANING TRANSITION: Activate gut immunity and positively influence rumen microbiota to benefit calf performance Marine Gauthier Ruminant Technical Development Manager Lallemand Animal Nutrition
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTUxNjkxNQ==