Calf rearing for herd health Leonel Leal, PhD Team Lead Calf - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Calf rearing for herd health Leonel Leal, PhD Team Lead Calf Research, Trouw Nutrition R&D

Time to reset our assumptions … BIG BOUKJE 192 18 years of age >200,000kg of milk 4.61% fat 3.85% protein 16,930 kg fat and protein …more 63 cows reached >100,000 kg in the same farm… CRV, 2018

Metabolic programming ...a new perspective on evolution...

The metabolism can be programmed Genetics Single-nucleotide polymorphism Mutation Phenotype Epigenetics Environment DNA methylation Diet Histone Housing modifications Toxins

The metabolism can be programmed Onset of puberty 4 Survival until 1 st calving 6 Reduced age at 1 st calving 1, 3 Increased milk production 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 But how??? 1 Bar-Peled et al. 1998; 2 Drackley et al. 2007; 3 Raeth-Knight et al. 2009; 4 Davis-Rincker et al. 2011; 5 Soberon et al. 2012; 6 Van de Stroet et al. 2016

It all starts with colostrum ... the liquid “gold”...

IgG and calf survival... 30% 25% Mortality 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% < 800 800-1200 > 1200 IgG (mg/dl) TN R&D, Leal et al., unpublished, 2017

Colostrum feeding method … Bottle Tube Sharifi et al., 2009

Colostrum feeding method … IgG Acetaminophen 25 35 Mean IgG Conc. (mg/ml) 20 Concentration (mg/L) 30 25 15 20 Bottle Tube Bottle 10 15 10 Tube 5 5 0 0 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 0 120 240 360 480 600 Time Relative to Colostrum Feeding (minutes) Time Relative to Colostrum Feeding (minutes) Desjardins-Morrissette et al., 2018

Delayed colostrum feeding … 0 h 6 h 12 h 30 25 20 IgG 15 mg/ml 10 5 0 0 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 27 30 33 36 39 42 45 48 Hours after birth Fisher et al., 2018

From colostrum to milk … Milk 50%/50% Colostrum 35 Second Meal 30 25 20 IgG 15 mg/ml First Meal 10 5 0 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 Hours after birth Pletts et al., 2018

Effect on lifetime performance… 2 L colostrum 4 L colostrum 2 L 4 L n 37 31 ADG, kg 0.80 1.03 * Age at conception, (months) 14.0 13.5 ns Survival through 2nd lact., (%) 75.7 87.1 * Milk yield through 2nd lact., (kg) 16,015 17,042 * *P<0.05; ns P>0.1 Faber et al., 2005

Critical control points … < 1 hour > 4 litres ~ 40 °C > 50 g IgG/L > 22% BRIX

Critical control points – BRIX DM % in milk Brix value IgG in g/l Colour colostrometer solution 30 96 31 29 90 30 28 85 28.9 27 79 27.8 26 73 26.7 25 68 25.6 24 62 24.5 23 56 23.4 22 50 22.3 21 45 21.2 20 39 20.1 19 33 19 18 28 18 17 22 17 16 16 16 15 11 15 14 5 13.9 13 0 12.8 12 0 11.7 11 0 10.6 10 0 9.5

Mother nature knows best ...nature feeding program...

Mother nature feeding program … VS. 1-3 times Calf nurses: 6-8 times 1-3 min. Time per meal: 5-10 min. 8%-10% BW as milk Milk consumption: 16%-24% BW as milk Around 0.45 kg Milk intake DM: Up to 1.59 kg Teat or Bucket Feeding method: Teat Abrupt (6-8 wks) Weaning method: Gradually (4-6 mths) Hafez and Lineweaver, 1958

What happens if you feed an Holstein calf mother nature feeding program? Calves gain weight more than 3 times faster 1.18 kg vs. 0.32 kg Kept with cow = ad libitum Separated at d1 = 10% BW as milk Flowers and Weary, 2002

First 2-3 weeks, calves fed conventionally are hungry! . Increased vocalization - 31.4 vs. 5 calls per day for calves fed 5L vs. 8L of milk daily ( 1 ) . More active (restless) - More unrewarded visits to the feeder ( 2, 3 ) - More competitive displacement of other calves from feeder ( 2 ) - More time standing (1h greater for calves fed 10% of BW than those fed ad libitum ) ( 2 ) 1) Thomas et al. 2001; 2) De Paula Vieira et al. 2008; 3) Borderas et al. 2009

Abomasal capacity How much volume can calves drink before exceeding abomasal capacity? • n = 6, 21 days of age • Intake in one meal: > 6.8 L • Abomasum has great capacity for expansion • No leakage to rumen Ellingsen et al., 2009

Preweaning ADG and lactation performance Reference Δ preweaning ADG, Δ 1st lactation milk Extra milk per kg/d yield, L extra gain, L/g Foldager and Krohn, 1994 na +1405 na Morrisson et al., 2009 +0.16 0 0 Shamay et al., 2005 +0.29 +981 3.4 Bar-Peled et al., 1997 +0.29 +453 1.6 Foldager et al., 1997 +0.30 +519 1.7 Ballard et al., 2005 +0.29 +700 2.4 Davis-Rincker et al., 2011 +0.20 +416 2.1 Soberon et al., 2012 +0.38 +552 1.5 Moallem et al., 2010 +0.07 +732 10.5 Raeth-Knight et al., 2009 +0.23 +718 3.1 Drackley et al., 2007 I +0.23 +1332 5.8 Drackley et al., 2007 II +0.15 +342 2.3 Terré et al., 2009 +0.10 +624 6.2

LifeStart ...closer to nature...

Enhanced milk supply and organ development RESTRICTED: 0.6 kg/d MR ENHANCED: 1.3 kg/d MR Restricted (n=6) Enhanced (n=6) P value Birth weight, kg 39.2 39.7 0.90 Weight at 54d, kg 61.0 83.2 < 0.01 MJ above maintenance, MJ 3.7 15.7 < 0.01 Soberon and Van Amburgh, 2017

Enhanced milk supply and organ development RESTRICTED: 0.6 kg/d MR ENHANCED: 1.3 kg/d MR Restricted (n=6) Enhanced (n=6) P value Pancreas, g 32.90 29.47 0.61 Pancreas, % of BW 0.06 0.04 0.11 Liver, kg 1.35 2.35 < 0.01 Liver, % of BW 2.23 2.84 < 0.01 Mammary gland, g 75.48 337.58 < 0.01 Parenchyma, g 1.10 6.48 < 0.01 Parenchyma, % of BW 0.002 0.008 < 0.01 Soberon and Van Amburgh, 2017

Change in gene expression profiles Changed (P<0.01) Mammary 654 Fat 1045 Liver 176 Bone marrow 435 Muscle 651 Pancreas 103 TN R&D, Leal et al. 2018; Hare et al. 2019

Take home messages (1/2) . Adequate colostrum intake affects health, growth, and future production . Accelerated or intensified milk feeding programs increase pre-weaning growth rates, without fattening (calves <12 weeks don’t get fat) . Largest growth advantages depend on adequate colostrum intake and low-stress environments . Starter and post-weaning nutrition must complement to maintain advantages

Take home messages (2/2) . Evidence suggest that a greater plane of nutrition during early life leads to increased milk production . If heifers are bred by weight (not age), age at first calving can be decreased (22-23 months) 1. Double birth weight by 56 days of age (minimum) 40kg birth weight ----- 80 kg Bw at 56 days 2. Calf mortality < 5% 3. Calf morbidity (treatments) less than 10% 4. Reduce age at first calving 1-2 months

Thank you for the attention Acknowledgements Wageningen University Cornell University University of Guelph University of Alberta Email: leonel.leal@trouwnutrition.com