Abstract
Neonatal dairy calf maintenance energy requirements are 1.75 Meal per day at thermoneutral temperatures. Conventional milk replacer feeding programs (e.g. 2 quarts of reconstituted solids twice per day) provide approximately 2.2 Meal per day. Considering the abundance of environmental and pathogenic challenges faced by neonatal calves, these conventional programs provide little energy for maintaining body temperature, mounting immune responses, and growing at expected rates of 1 to 2 pounds per day and weight loss often occurs for the initial week of life. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of conventional nutritional plane versus a higher nutritional plane on the health status, muscle development, and initial weight loss in neonatal dairy calves.
Published Version
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