152 Impact of Early Life Nutrition and Supplementation of a Yeast Derived Product in Growth and Development of Beef Calves

Abstract

Abstract The objective of this experiment was to evaluate the impact of a yeast-derived product (Celmanax; Church & Dwight Co., Inc.; Princeton, NJ) supplementation on performance of beef calves during the backgrounding phase. A total of 44 male castrated beef calves [249 ± 31 kg body weight (BW), 296 ±8 days of age], were stratified by BW and randomly assigned to one of two treatments: supplementation of kg-1calf-1d of corn gluten feed (Control; n = 22); or supplementation of kg∙animal-1∙day-1 of corn gluten feed and 14 g∙animal-1∙day-1 (as fed-basis) of a yeast derived product (Treatment, CEL; n = 22). Steer calves received their treatment for 30 days, using an automated feeding system (SmartFeed PRO, C-Lock Inc., Rapid City, SD). Four automated feeders allowed each group to have access to their specific diet, while being managed as a single group during the total duration of the experiment, and daily individual animal supplement intake were recorded. Before the beginning of the experimental period, calves were trained to use the automated feeding system for 30 days. Steer calves also had ad libitum access to a fescue pasture and grass hay. Body weight was measured every 14 days using a livestock scale. At day 30, calves were loaded into a commercial livestock trailer and transported to a feedlot for a total of 6 hours. Feed samples were collected every week, dried to measure dry matter content, and kept for further nutritional composition chemical analyses. Individual daily intake of supplement was similar between treatments (0.82 ± 0.06 and 0.9 ± 0.07 kg/d for CEL and Control, respectively; P = 0.36). Average daily gain (ADG) showed no difference between treatments (0.57 ± 0.05 and 0.61 ± 0.05 kg/d for CEL and Control, respectively; P = 0.59), reaching the same final body weight (256 ± 6.73 kg for CEL and Control; P = 0.98). Body weight loss during transportation (12.6 ± 0.87 kg and 12.4 ± 0.85 kg for CEL and Control, respectively; P = 0.9) was not different between treatments, reaching normal values for that length of transportation. In conclusion, supplementation of a yeast-derived product during 30 days before transportation did not cause any changes in performance of backgrounded beef steer calves.