Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-rvbq7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-12T14:21:34.420Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The effect of milk substitute input during calfhood on the lifetime performance of beef cattle

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

R. W. J. Steen
R. W. J. Steen
Affiliation:
Agricultural Research Institute of Northern Ireland, Hillsborough, Co. Down BT26 6DR
Get access

Abstract

Three randomized-block experiments involving 87 British Friesian, 18 Simmental × Friesian and 18 Hereford × Friesian, artificially reared calves (mean initial live weight 47 kg and age 9 days), were carried out to examine the effects of the quantity of milk substitute consumed on the lifetime performance of beef cattle. The three treatments were (1) 400 g milk powder per head daily, weaned at 42 days of age (2) ad libitum intake of milk powder, weaned at 42 days and (3) ad libitum intake of milk powder, weaned at 60 days. All calves were individually penned and fed until after weaning; those on treatment 1 were bucket fed twice daily, while those on treatments 2 and 3 sucked the milk from 25·1 containers through artificial teats. They were offered a pelleted, barley/soya-bean meal concentrate (197 g crude protein per kg dry matter (DM)) ad libitum from purchase until intake reached a maximum of 2·7 kg per head daily, and well preserved grass silage ad libitum from 6 weeks of age. Three commercial, skimmed milk-based, acidified milk substitutes (242 and 187 g crude protein and oil per kg respectively) were used. Intakes of milk substitute, concentrate DM and silage DM per calf to 12 weeks of age for treatments 1 to 3 respectively were as follows: 13·0, 39·7 and 54·8 (s.e. 1·67) kg; 88, 73 and 58 (s.e. 1·5) kg and 9·4, 10·6 and 11·2 (s.e. 0·23) kg. Live-weight gains to 12 weeks of age and carcass weights adjusted to 19 months of age were 0·71, 0·82 and 0·84 (s.e. 0·026) kg/day and 335, 340 and 341 (s.e. 3·8) kg. It is concluded that increasing the input of milk substitute above 400 g per head daily until 6 weeks of age produced only a small and uneconomic increase in the lifetime performance of beef cattle.

Keywords

beef cattlecarcass qualitygrowthmilk substitutes
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Production , Volume 52 , Issue 1 , February 1991 , pp. 67 - 74
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1991

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Agricultural Research Council. 1965. Recommended Procedures for Use in the Measurement of Beef Cattle and Carcasses. Agricultural Research Council, London.Google Scholar
Davey, A. W. F. 1962. Effects of dilution of reconstituted buttermilk on the intake, growth and health of Jersey calves. New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research 5: 460–467.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Everitt, G. C. 1972. Calf growth and lifetime performance of beef cattle. Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production 32: 20–25.Google Scholar
Everitt, G. C. and Jury, K. E. 1977. Growth of cattle i n relation to nutrition in early life. New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research 20: 129–137.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fallon, R. J. and Harte, F. J. 1980. Effect of restricting intake of cold acidified milk replacer by limited access and by dilution on calf performance. An Foras Taluntais, Animal Production Research Report, pp. 7–8.Google Scholar
Fallon, R. J. and Harte, F. J. 1982. Effect of reducing intake of cold acidified milk replacer on calf performance. An Foras Taluntais, Animal Production Research Report, p. 12.Google Scholar
Fallon, R. J. and Harte, F. J. 1983. Effect of level of milk replacer feeding on calf performance. An Foras Taluntais, Animal Production Research Report, p. 5.Google Scholar
Fallon, R. J. and Harte, F. J. 1985a. Effect of offering 20 or 50 kg of milk replacer by bucket over a 56-day period. An Foras Taluntais, Animal Production Research Report, p. 54.Google Scholar
Fallon, R. J. and Harte, F. J. 1985b. Effect of whole milk and acidified milk replacer offered at two different levels by bucket. An Foras Taluntais, Animal Production Research Report, pp. 55–56.Google Scholar
Fallon, R. J. and Harte, F. J. 1985c. The effect of three planes of nutrition in the period 1 to 42 days on subsequent calf performance. An Foras Taluntais, Animal Production Research Report, p. 54.Google Scholar
Gleeson, P. A. 1971. Grass as a feed for calves. Irish Journal of Agricultural Research 10: 151–159.Google Scholar
Harte, F. J. and Fallon, R. J. 1985. Effect of plane of nutrition in calfhood on subsequent performance. An Foras Taluntais, Animal Production Research Report, p. 57.Google Scholar
Harte, F. J., Fallon, R. J. and Clancy, M. J. 1984. Effect of level of feeding in the calf stage on the lifetime performance of Friesian steers. Animal Production 38: 533 (Abstr.).Google Scholar
Harte, F. J., Quirke, J. F. and Fallon, R. J. 1985. Effect of plane of nutrition in the calf stage on growth hormone (GH) level and subsequent performance. An Foras Taluntais, Animal Production Research Report, p. 56.Google Scholar
Hodgson, J. 1971. The development of solid food intake n i calves. 5. The relationship between liquid and solid food intake. Animal Production 13: 593–597.Google Scholar
Jenny, B. F., Van Dijk, H. J. and Grimes, L. W. 1982. Performance of calves fed milk replacer once daily at various fluid intakes and dry matter concentrations. Journal of Dairy Science 65: 2345–2350.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kaiser, A. G. and O'neill, G. H. 1975. Rearing dairy beef calves by multiple suckling. 2. Effects on liveweight gain of calves. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture and Animal Husbandry 15: 314–320.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kempster, A. J., Cuthbertson, A. and Harrington, G. 1982. Beef carcase grading and classification. In Carcase Evaluation in Livestock Breeding, Production and Marketing, pp. 163–201. Granada, St. Albans.Google Scholar
Lawrence, T. L. J. and Pearce, J. 1964. Some effects of wintering yearling beef cattle on different planes of nutrition. I. Live-weight gain, food consumption and body measurement changes during the winter period and the subsequent grazing period. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 63: 5–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lonsdale, C. R. and Tayler, J. C. 1969. The artificial rearing of calves and their growth on grass diets. II. The effect of length of period of feeding cold milk substitute to spring-born calves at pasture. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 73: 483–488.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meadowcroft, S. C. and Yule, A. H. 1976. A comparison of two planes of nutrition for beef calves. Experimental Husbandry 31: 24–32.Google Scholar
Morgan, J. H. L. 1972. Effect of plane of nutrition in early life on subsequent live-weight gain, carcass and muscle characteristics and eating quality of meat in cattle. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 78: 417–423.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Donovan, P. B. 1984. Compensatory gain in cattle and sheep. Nutrition Abstracts and Reviews — Series B 54: 389–410.Google Scholar
Reardon, T. F. and Everitt, G. C. 1972. Effects of pre-weaning nutrition on subsequent growth rate, feed conversion efficiency and carcass composition of identical twin steers. Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Producion 32: 26–38.Google Scholar
Roy, J. H. B. 1980. The Calf. 4th ed. Butterworths, London.Google Scholar
Steen, R. W. J. 1989. A comparison of soya-bean, sunflower and fish meals as protein supplements for yearling cattle offered grass silage-based diets. Animal Production 48: 81–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wardrop, I. D. 1966. The effects of plane of nutrition i n early post-natal life on the subsequent growth and development of cattle. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 17: 375–385.CrossRefGoogle Scholar