Effects of skim milk and whey-based milk replacers on feed intake and growth of dairy calves

Figures & data

Table 1. Description of the MRs used in the present experiment.

	MR1	MR2	MR3
Ingredients (g/kg dry matter)
Skim milk powder	418	300	–
Whey powder	409	283	448
Vegetable oil	163	190	160
Whey fractions	–	100	300
Hydrolyzed wheat protein	–	65	70
Wheat starch	–	50	–
Vitamin, mineral and trace element premix	8	10	20
Brewers’ yeast	2	2	2
Chemical composition and nutritional values
DM, g/kg	965	968	965
Organic matter, g/kg DM	920	920	902
CP, g/kg DM	210	235	210
Crude fat, g/kg dry DM	170	190	165
Crude fibre, g/kg DM	–	–	10
Metabolizable energy, MJ/kg DM	16.9	18.1	17.4

Table 2. Chemical composition and nutritional values of concentrates (C1 was used during pre-weaning period and C2 during post-weaning period), GS and hay used in the feeding experiment.

	C1	C2	GS	Hay
Number of samples	4	4	8	8
DM, g/kg	875	870	343	888
Organic matter (OM), g/kg DM	926	927	922	947
CP, g/kg DM	180	180	161	62
Crude fat, g/kg dry DM	53	45	43	21
NDF, g/kg DM	242	306	523	685
Digestible OM in DM, g/kg DM			683	550
Metabolizable energy, MJ/kg DM	12.8	12.4	10.9	8.8
Fermentation quality of silage
pH			4.56
Volatile fatty acids, g/kg DM			17
Lactic + formic acid, g/kg DM			30
Water-soluble carbohydrates, g/kg DM			101
In total N, g/kg
NH4N			65
Soluble N			511

Table 3. Daily feed dry matter (DM) intakes of dairy calves fed with different MRs.

	MR1	MR2	MR3	SEM	P-values
Pre-weaning (between 20 and 75 days of age)
MR, kg DM/d	0.75	0.74	0.73	0.013	0.70
Concentrate, kg DM/d	0.64^ab	0.75^a	0.56^b	0.032	0.05
Forage, kg DM/d	0.30	0.36	0.29	0.014	0.07
Total intake, kg DM/d	1.69^ab	1.85^a	1.58^b	0.036	0.03
Metabolizable energy intake, MJ/d	23.5^ab	26.2^a	22.4^b	0.47	0.02
CP intake, g/d	306^b	350^a	286^b	6.9	0.02
Post-weaning (between 75 and 195 days of age)
Concentrate, kg DM/d	2.61	2.61	2.59	0.075	0.05
Forage, kg DM/d	1.67	1.75	1.58	0.076	0.43
Total intake, kg DM/d	4.28	4.36	4.17	0.075	0.36
Metabolizable energy intake, MJ/d	48.0	48.8	47.0	0.73	0.34
CP intake, g/d	741	755	725	12.1	0.36
Average during the experiment
MR, kg DM/d	0.28	0.28	0.28	0.005	0.70
Concentrate, kg DM/d	1.87^ab	1.91^a	1.82^b	0.013	0.04
Forage, kg DM/d	1.15	1.22	1.10	0.050	0.33
Total intake, kg DM/d	3.30	3.41	3.20	0.039	0.07
Metabolizable energy intake, MJ/d	38.8^ab	40.3^a	37.7^b	0.33	0.03
CP intake, g/d	577^ab	602^a	560^b	5.7	0.03

Notes: MR1 included skim milk powder (418 g/kg DM), whey powder (409) and vegetable oil (163). MR2 included 28% less skim milk powder compared to MR1 including whey fractions, hydrolyzed wheat protein and wheat starch. In MR3 skim milk powder was completely replaced by whey powder, whey fractions and hydrolyzed wheat protein. SEM – standard error of mean. Between-diets comparisons (Tukey, P < .05): estimated means with the different letters were significantly different (P < .05).

Table 4. LWs, LWGs, feed conversion rates and disorders of dairy calves fed with different MRs.

	MR1	MR2	MR3	SEM	P-values
LW, kg
Initial, at the age of 20 days	53	53	53	2.2	0.97
At the end of pre-weaning	103	105	98	3.0	0.38
Final, at the age of 195 days	211	210	203	5.3	0.57
LWG, g/d
Pre-weaning (between 20 and 75 days of age)	907^ab	945^a	809^b	22.6	0.04
Post-weaning (between 75 and 195 days of age)	1192	1154	1156	35.8	0.72
Average during the experiment	1085	1075	1025	22.2	0.27
Feed conversion rates
kg DM/kg live weight gain
Pre-weaning	1.94	1.97	1.96	0.068	0.95
Post-weaning	3.64	3.80	3.68	0.059	0.30
Average	3.09	3.18	3.15	0.048	0.45
MJ/kg live weight gain
Pre-weaning	27.4	28.3	28.2	0.95	0.74
Post-weaning	41.0	42.6	41.4	0.739	0.39
Average	36.5	37.8	37.3	0.63	0.39
g crude protein/kg live weight gain
Pre-weaning	357	379	360	12.4	0.50
Post-weaning	632	658	639	11.2	0.36
Average	544	564	554	9.2	0.58
Disorders during pre-weaning period, % of feeding days
Diarrhea	1.79	3.57	2.50	0.986	0.45
Cough	1.49	2.50	1.43	0.550	0.30
Bloat	0.18	0.18	0.18	0.179	1.00

Notes: MR1 included skim milk powder (418 g/kg DM), whey powder (409) and vegetable oil (163). MR2 included 28% less skim milk powder compared to MR1 including whey fractions, hydrolyzed wheat protein and wheat starch. In MR3 skim milk powder was completely replaced by whey powder, whey fractions and hydrolyzed wheat protein. SEM – standard error of mean. Between-diets comparisons (Tukey, P < .05): estimated means with the different letters were significantly different (P < .05).