Abstract

ELIZONDO-SALAZAR, Jorge Alberto  and  SANCHEZ-ALVAREZ, Melisa. Effect of liquid and solid diet intake on growth and rumen development of dairy calves. Agron. Costarricense [online]. 2012, vol.36, n.2, pp.81-90. ISSN 0377-9424.

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of liquid and solid diet intake on growth and rumen development of dairy calves. The experiment was conducted in a commercial dairy farm located at 2500 m.a.s.l in the province of Cartago, Costa Rica. Ten Holstein calves were selected at birth and randomly included in 1 of 2 treatments. The conventional treatment consisted in providing calves a liquid diet on a restricted basis (4 l.calf^-1.d^-1). The intensive treatment consisted in supplying calves the same liquid diet in larger quantities, up to 8 l.calf^-1.d^-1. Growth measurements including body weight, hip height and withers height were taken weekly. Calves were sacrificed at 8 weeks of age, in order to compare rumen growth and development. Animals in the intensive treatment had a significantly higher liquid diet intake and lower feed intake than calves in the conventional treatment. Growth measurements showed no significant differences between treatment groups. Calves in the intensive treatment had a poor rumen development and lesser papillae growth, which may negatively affect calves’ post-weaning performance.

Keywords : Rumen; milk; intake; calves; rumen development.

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