PSIII-3 The effects of feeding milk from a nipple or a bucket on performance, blood metabolism, rumen fermentation and behavior of dairy calves during preweaning period

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Abstract The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of two milk feeding methods on performance, blood metabolism, rumen fermentation and behavior of preweaning dairy calves. Forty newborn Holstein female calves were assigned to one of two treatments equally: nipple feeding (NF) and bucket feeding (BF). Gradual weaning commenced on d 35 and weaning occurred on d 56. Starter intake, fecal scoring, body weight and structural measurements (withers height, heart girth, abdominal girth, body length) were collected. Blood samples and Rumen fluid samples were collected on day 28 and 56, respectively. Ten calves from each treatment were selected randomly and instantaneous scan-sampling with 3 min intervals was used to collect the behavior data (licking nipple or bucket, manipulating objects, self-grooming, lying, standing). Observation were conducted twice per week (1 h session duration) and were centered around morning (0900 h), afternoon (1500 h), and evening (1700 h) milk feeding period. Data were analyzed by mixed effect model with treatment, time, and the interaction between them as fixed effects, and animal within treatment as a random effect. Results showed that body weight, average daily gain, starter intake and structural measurements were similar between two treatments. NF group had higher diarrhea frequency than BF group during week 6 (P = 0.03). NF group had higher concentration of insulin (P = 0.01), IGF-1 (P = 0.03) and β-hydroxybutyric acid (P = 0.04) than BF group on d 56. Rumen pH and volatile fatty acids were similar between two treatments. No differences between two treatments for behavior observation were found, except that NF group spent more time licking nipple than BF group (P = 0.001). In conclusion, nipple or bucket feeding had no effects on performance, starter intake and rumen fermentation, yet nipple feeding increased licking time and different feeding methods influenced blood metabolism.