Feeding Accelerated Milk Replacer to Calves: Effects of Starter Stirring on Performance Nicole Guindon, and Dr. Pete Erickson

Introduction 70% of US dairy producers use milk replacer Conventional milk replacers contain 20-22% CP and 15-20% fat (DM basis) and fed at a rate of 4 quarts/d until weaning Accelerated or High-protein replacers contain 26% to 28% CP and 15-20% fat. These are typically increased over the milk feeding period. Weaning occurs at d 42 and finalized at d 49.

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Introduction (cont.) Calves fed the high CP replacer have a higher ADG and are taller as compared to calves fed conventional replacer (Cornell, UNH, UMINN). Decreasing weaning stress can result in increased growth Calves fed the high CP replacer have difficulty during the weaning phase.

Starter Intake (Cowles et al., 2006)

Overall DMI (Cowles et al., 2006)

ADG, Cowles et al., (2006)

Intake behavior of cattle Dairy cows eat when their feed is pushed up Would calves respond the same way by human interaction? Could stirring the calf starter improve performance and decrease the stress of weaning in calves fed high CP milk replacer feeding programs?

Objective To determine if calves fed a conventional or high CP milk replacer feeding regimen that have their coarse starter stirred increase starter intake and skeletal growth. Will this practice reduce poor performance during the weaning period (d 42-d 49).

Materials and Methods 36 newborn Holstein heifer calves 4 treatments – Conventional milk replacer, no stirs (CMR) – Conventional milk replacer, stirs twice daily (CMRS) – High protein milk replacer, no stirs (HPMR) – High protein milk replacer, stirs (HPMRS) 18 Calves were fed a conventional milk replacer (20/20) fed at 12% solids, twice daily until d 41. ½ of these calves had their starter stirred in the morning (10:30 am) and afternoon (2:00 pm)

Materials and methods (cont.) Calves on the high CP milk replacer (28/20) had 0.9 pounds of powder reconstituted to 17% DM twice daily from d2-d8 twice daily and 1.25 pounds of powder reconstituted to 17% DM twice daily from d9-d calves had their starter manipulated twice daily (as the other treatment) Ad libitum coarse starter and water was available to all calves.

Materials and Methods (cont.) Weekly skeletal measurements were made based on the birthday of the calf All feed and water intake measured daily The nursery had a partition to allow the researchers to only visit the calves that had their starter stirred Starter was stirred for 30 sec/calf Only the graduate student was allowed in the nursery

Materials and Methods (cont.) From d 42 –d 49 calves only received milk replacer in the morning. Calves were fully weaned on d 50- measurements continued until d 63.

Results (Preweaning d 2-41) ItemCMRCMRSHPMRHPMRSSES vs. NSHPMR vs. CMR Int. DMI, lb/d < Starter Intake, lb/d < ADG, lb/d < G/F Water intake, lb/d < Wit. g in/d < Girth g in/d Results (Preweaning d 2-42)

Conclusions (preweaning) Calves with starter stirred tended (P = 0.1) to consume less starter. There was a trend for a DMI interaction (P= 0.1). Calves that had their starter stirred consumed less DM if they were fed CMR, but not if they were fed HPMR. Calves fed HPMR consumed more water and calves on HPMRS consumed more water than calves on CMRS who consumed less water.

Preweaning conclusions (cont.) Calves fed HPMR gained more weight, while calves that had their starter stirred tended to gain less weight. Calves fed HPMR were more efficient in converting DM into gain. However, calves that received HPMR were shorter. There were no effects of treatment on girth gain.

Results (d 43-49) ItemCMRCMRSHPMRHPMRSSES vs. NSHPMR vs. CMR INT. DMI, lb/d Starter intake, lb/d < ADG, lb/d G/F Water intake, lb/d Wit.g in/d

Conclusions (Weaning week) Starter intake remained elevated for calves fed CMR. No effect of treatment on water intake, ADG, feed efficiency, height or girth gain. No effect of stirring on any of these parameters.

Results (d 50-63) ItemCMRCMRSHPMRHPMRSSES vs NSHPMR vs CMR INT. Starter intake, lb/d ADG, lb/d G/F Water intake, lb/d Wit. G in/d Girth g in/d

Postweaning Conclusions (d 50-63) Starter intake remained elevated for claves fed CMR. No effect on another parameter measured.

Overall conclusions Stirring starter did not result in any measurable improvements. HPMR increased performance during the preweaning phase as observed in other studies.

Acknowledgements NH AES. Fairchild Dairy Research Center Land O’Lakes George Walker Milk Fund Fernald Farm, Nottingham

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