Efficiency of use of supplementary lighting in rearing of dairy calves during milk feeding stage

Gledson L P De Almeida,Fátima Baptista,Héliton Pandorfi,Cristiane Guiselini,Gleidiana A P De Almeida,Vasco F Da Cruz

doi:10.1590/1807-1929/agriambi.v19n10p989-995

Gledson L P De Almeida, Fátima Baptista + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/1807-1929/agriambi.v19n10p989-995

Copy DOI

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe objective of this study was to evaluate programs of supplementary lighting for calves in individual shelters with different roof materials, as a strategy to stimulate concentrate consumption and the reduction of the milk feeding period and increase financial viability. Twenty seven dairy crossed Holstein × Gir female calves were randomly distributed in individual shelters with three different roofing materials (cement fiber tile, recycled tile and thatched roofs), associated with three different light duration (12, 16 and 20 h) and with three repetitions. The experimental design was completely randomized in 3 × 3 factorial arrangement. There was no interaction between the types of roofs × supplemental light; also, there was no significant effect of the covering types on the average consumption of concentrate and occurance of diarrhea in calves. On the other hand 20 h of lighting stimulated the consumption of concentrate and allowed weaning of calves at 55 days of age and 20% reduction in the cost of rearing animals during milk feeding stage.

Highlights

The thermal environment inside the individual shelters that were covered with recycled tile, thatched roof and cement fiber tile showed little variation with respect to enthalpy
There was no significant effect of the roof type on concentrate intake at 3rd week, 4th week, 5th weeks, 6th week, 7th weeks, 8th week, 9th Week and 10th weeks of age and no interaction between roof type and supplementary lighting on concentrate intake at 3rd (P = 0.880), 4th (P = 0.775), 5th (P = 0.772), 6th (P = 0.401), 7th (P = 0.390), 8th (P = 0.349), 9th (P = 0.456) and 10th week of age (P = 0.737). These results are in accordance with studies by Cunha et al (2007), who found no significant effects on the average daily consumption of concentrate among calves during milk feeding stage housed in shelters covered with different materials compared with concentrate consumption of calves reared in the open field
Calves exposed to 8 h lighting supplementary (20 h light) were stimulated to consume higher amounts of concentrate, caused reduction in the occurrence of diarrhea and allowing weaning at 55 days of age, without impair performance of calves

Summary

Introduction

One of the barriers to the potential growth of the dairy industry is attributed to the negligence of producers and the poor management of animal feed, which is often linked to high costs with the rearing of dairy calves during milk feeding and post-weaning, restricting the growth and delaying the onset of puberty in heifers (Bhatti et al, 2012). Rearing calves for replacement in dairy herds is a phase of high cost and no commercial gain is obtained until the age of the first lactation (Greter et al, 2010). Weaning is performed based on the animal age (typically 60 days) or when the large-size calves is ingesting 0.800 kg of concentrate for three consecutive days, or when it reaches 90 to 100 kg live weight (Lopes et al, 2010)

Objectives

Methods

Results