Abstract
The objective of this study was to determine growth, feed intake, and feed efficiency of postbred dairy heifers with different genomic residual feed intake (RFI) predicted as a lactating cow when offered diets differing in energy density. Postbred Holstein heifers (n = 128, ages 14-20 mo) were blocked by initial weight (high, medium-high, medium-low, and low) with 32 heifers per block. Each weight block was sorted by RFI (high or low) to obtain 2 pens of heifers with high and low genomically predicted RFI within each block (8 heifers per pen). Low RFI heifers were expected to have greater feed efficiency than high RFI heifers. Dietary treatments consisted of a higher energy control diet based on corn silage and alfalfa haylage [HE; 62.7% total digestible nutrients, 11.8% crude protein, and 45.6% neutral detergent fiber; dry matter (DM) basis], and a lower energy diet diluted with straw (LE; 57.0% total digestible nutrients, 11.7% crude protein, and 50.1% neutral detergent fiber; DM basis). Each pen within a block was randomly allocated a diet treatment to obtain a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement (2 RFI levels and 2 dietary energy levels). Diets were offered in a 120-d trial. Dry matter intake by heifers was affected by diet (11.0 vs. 10.0 kg/d for HE and LE, respectively) but not by RFI or the interaction of RFI and diet. Daily gain was affected by the interaction of RFI and diet, with low RFI heifers gaining more than high RFI heifers when fed LE (0.94 vs. 0.85 kg/d for low and high RFI, respectively), but no difference for RFI groups when fed HE (1.16 vs. 1.19 kg/d for low and high RFI, respectively). Respective feed efficiencies were improved for low RFI compared with high RFI heifers when fed LE (10.6 vs. 11.8 kg of feed DM/kg of gain), but no effect of RFI was found when fed HE (9.4 vs. 9.5 kg of DM/kg of gain for high and low RFI, respectively). No effect of RFI or diet on first-lactation performance through 150 DIM was observed. Based on these results, the feed efficiency of heifers having different genomic RFI may be dependent on diet energy level, whereby low RFI heifers utilized the LE diet more efficiently. The higher fiber straw (LE) diet controlled intake and maintained more desirable heifer weight gains. This suggests that selection for improved RFI in lactating cows may improve feed efficiency in growing heifers when fed to meet growth goals of 0.9 to 1.0 kg of gain/d.
Highlights
Much emphasis has been placed on replacement heifer nutrition programs with the goal of establishing an ideal program to rear heifers at a minimal cost without compromising growth, pregnancy, and future lactation performance
The objective of this study was to determine the effect of dietary energy level and genomic residual feed intake (RFI) on postbred dairy heifer performance that primarily focuses on growth, feed intake, feed efficiency, and subsequent first-lactation production
It would be expected that a higher energy diet would be required with lower feed intakes to meet target growth rates, but we have found the energy concentration needed is similar to current NRC (2001) energy concentrations of about 57 to 60% TDN or 2.2 Mcal of ME/kg of dry matter (DM) when feeding high-fiber diets (50–55% NDF, DM)
Summary
Much emphasis has been placed on replacement heifer nutrition programs with the goal of establishing an ideal program to rear heifers at a minimal cost without compromising growth, pregnancy, and future lactation performance. Limit-feeding is a management practice that limits the feed intake of a more nutrient-dense diet to control nutrient intake and growth, as well as improve efficiency Such programs, proven successful, can have behavioral drawbacks including (1) increased standing without eating (Hoffman et al, 2007; Greter et al, 2011), (2) increased reaching for feed that is inaccessible, and (3) increased vocalization (Hoffman et al, 2007). Proven successful, can have behavioral drawbacks including (1) increased standing without eating (Hoffman et al, 2007; Greter et al, 2011), (2) increased reaching for feed that is inaccessible, and (3) increased vocalization (Hoffman et al, 2007) This system relies on a high level of nutritional management and proper facility design that can be challenging within some operations.
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