Weight gain comparison between heifers fed colostrum or whole milk until weaning

ABSTRACT

Background: The milk-feeding phase, wherein whole milk is the natural food, is critical to calf development, health, andvitality. However, feeding milk to calves is costly in the rearing system because the milk supplied to calves is not sold. Infarms in which the average production is high, excess colostrum and transitional milk are produced that are used to feedcalves until weaning. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of heifers exclusively fed colostrum(including transitional milk) or raw whole milk.Materials, Methods & Results: Immediately after their birth, 83 ear-tagged healthy Holstein Friesian heifers adequatelyreceiving the initial colostrum were separated into two experimental groups. Group 1 (n = 34) was fed only fresh whole milkand group 2 (n = 49) was fed only colostrum diluted in water at a 21 ratio. Colostrum was removed from cows until the fifthday after birth and was stored in sanitized disposable plastic bottles, stored in a freezer at -20°C and before administration,the colostrum was thawed. Liquid diets were administered using a bottle twice a day during the first month, namely 2 L inthe morning and 2 L in the afternoon. During the second month, the heifers were fed 4 L once a day in the morning. Theheifers had access to an enclosure with fodder, in addition to concentrate specifically for heifers, which was placed in anindividual trough daily. The leftovers were weighed at the end of the afternoon. The heifers were abruptly weaned whenthey reached a daily intake of 1 kg of concentrate. The heifers were individually weighed at birth and at 30, 60, 90, 120,150, and 180 days. The average weights were 40.4, 54.1, 74.5, 95.1, 108.2, and 126.1 kg in group 1 and 45.4, 58.4, 78.2,95.9, 110.8, and 125.1 kg in group 2. The use of diluted colostrum was satisfactory...