The Effect of Textured Starter Feed with Low and High Determination of Protein to Energy Ratio on Digestibility, Rumen and Blood Parameters of Holstein Calves

Subject Areas : Journal of Animal Biology

Ali Esmaili ¹ , Amirdavor Faruzandeh ² , Hossein Omidi-Mirzaei ³ , Mohammad Karimi ⁴ , Behzad Akhlaghi ⁵ , Kian Sadeghi ⁶

1 - Department of Animal Sciences, Isfahan Branch (Khorasgan), Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran
2 - Department of Animal Sciences, Isfahan Branch (Khorasgan), Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran
3 - Department of Animal Science, Isfahan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, AREEO, PO Box 81785-199, Isfahan, Iran
4 - Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran
5 - Department of Animal Science, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran
6 - Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran

Received: 2023-06-26 Accepted : 2023-08-22 Published : 2024-02-20

Keywords: digestibility, Holstein calves, starter feed, Textured feed, Rumen and blood parameters,

Abstract :

The current study was conducted to evaluate the interaction between different levels of protein and feed structure on performance in calves. Accordingly, a total number of 48 Holstein calves (A mixture of both sexes) were randomly assigned to 4 dietary treatments with 12 replicate pens, based on a factorial design. Dietary treatments consisted of 1) ground starter with % 18 CP, 2) ground starter with % 22 CP, 3) texture starter with % 18 CP and 4) texture starter with % 22 CP. In this study, digestibility of nutrients, rumen and blood parameters of suckling calves were measured. The interaction between the main effects for the amount of beta-hydroxybutyrate in the blood on the 70th day of the experiment was significant (p < 0.05). In this way, flour feed with 18% protein had the lowest amount of beta-hydroxybutyrate. The interaction between the main effects for other blood parameters was not significant (p < 0.05). The interaction between the main effects for ruminal parameters and digestibility was not affected by the form and protein level of the initial feed (p < 0.05). In general, there was no significant difference between the textured feed and coarse grinding, and the protein level of 18 and 22% was not observed in the tested groups.

References:

1. Almeida L.M., Bassi L.S., Santos R.O., Orlando U.A., Maiorka A., Oliveira S.G., 2021. Effect of feed form and heat processing on the growth performance of growing and finishing pigs. Livestock Science, 245:104430


2. Daneshvar D., Khorvash M., Ghasemi E., Mahdavi A.H. 2017. Combination effects of milk feeding methods and starter crude protein concentration: Evaluation on performance and health of Holstein male calves. Animal Feed Science and Technology, 223:1-12.‏


3. Du C., Ma L., Zhen Y.G., Kertz A.F., Zhang W.J., Bu D.P., 2021. Effects of different physical forms of starter on digestibility, growth, health, selected rumen parameters and blood metabolites in Holstein calves. Animal Feed Science and Technology, 271:114759.


4. Ghassemi-Nejad J., Torbatinejad N., Naserian A.A., Kumar S., Kim J.D., Song Y.H., Ra C.S., Sung K.I. 2012. Effects of processing of starter diets on performance, nutrient digestibility, rumen biochemical parameters and body measurements of Brown Swissdairy calves. Asian-Australas. Journal of Animal. Scienc, 25:980-987.


5. Jafari A., Azarfar A., Ghorbani G.R., Mirzaei M., Khan M.A., Omidi-Mirzaei H., Pakdel A., Ghaffari, M.H., 2020. Effects of physical forms of starter and milk allowance on growth performance, ruminal fermentation, and blood metabolites of Holstein dairy calves. Journal of Dairy Science, 103(12):11300-11313.


6. Khan M.A., Bach A., Weary D.M., von Keyserlingk M.A.G. 2016. Invited review: Transitioning from milk to solid feed in dairy heifers. Journal of Dairy Science, 99:1-18.


7. Lesmeister K., Heinrichs A. 2005. Effects of adding extra molasses to a texturized calf starter on rumen development, growth characteristics, and blood parameters in neonatal dairy calves, Journal of Dairy Science, 88:411-418.


8. Li Y., Guo Y.L., Zhang C.X., Cai X.F., Liu P., Li C.L. 2021. Effects of physical forms of starter feed on growth, nutrient digestibility, gastrointestinal enzyme activity, and morphology of pre-and post-weaning lambs. Animal, 15(1):100044.


9. Makizadeh H., Kazemi-Bonchenari M., Mansoori-Yarahmadi H., Fakhraei J., Khanaki H., Drackley J.K., Ghaffari M.H., 2020. Corn processing and crude protein content in calf starter: Effects on growth performance, ruminal fermentation, and blood metabolites. Journal of Dairy Science, 103(10):9037-9053.


10. Mirzaei M., Khorvash M., Ghorbani G. 2016. Interactions between the physical form of starter (mashed versus textured) and corn silage provision on performance, rumen fermentation, and structural growth of Holstein calves. Journal of Animal Science, 94:678-686.


11. Moeini H., Mahdavi A.H., Riasi A., Ghorbani G.R., Oskoueian E., Khan M.A., Ghaffari M.H. 2017. Effects of physical form of starter and forage provision to young calves on blood metabolites, liver composition and intestinal morphology. Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition, 101(4):755-766.‏


12. Molaei M., Kazemi-Bonchenari M., Mirzaei M., Esmaeili, H.R., 2021. The physical form of starter (finely ground versus pelleted) and alfalfa hay (chopped versus pelleted) in Holstein dairy calves: Effects on growth performance, feeding behaviour, ruminal fermentation, and urinary purine derivatives. Animal Feed Science and Technology, 279:115031.


13. Pazoki A, Ghorbani GR, Kargar S, Sadeghi-Sefidmazgi A, Drackley JK, Ghaffari MH. 2017. Growth performance, nutrient digestibility, ruminal fermentation, and rumen development of calves during transition from liquid to solid feed: Effects of physical form of starter feed and forage provision. Animal Feed Science and Technology, 234:173-185.‏


14. Porter J.C., Warner R.G., Kertz A.F. 2007. Effect of fiber level and physical form of starter o9-n growth and development of dairy calves fed no forage. Professional Animal Science, 23:395-400.


15. Reynal S.M., Broderick G.A. 2005. Effect of dietary level of rumen degraded protein on production and nitrogen metabolism in lactating dairy cows. Journal of Dairy Science, 88:4045-4064.


16. Terre M., Castells L.I., Khan M.A., Bach A. 2015. Interaction between the physical form of the starter feed and straw provision on growth performance of Holstein calves. Journal of Dairy Science. 98:1101-1109.


17. Van KeulenY.B.A., Young B.A., 1977. Evaluation of acid-insoluble ash as a natural marker in ruminant digestibility studies. Journal of Animal Science, 44(2):282-287.