Mostafa Hosseinabadi *1, Kamel Amozadeh Araee1, Taghi Ghoorchi1, Ghasem Khadem1, Ehsan Mirzadeh2, Hamidreza Doosti2
1- Department of Animal and Poultry Nutrition, Faculty of Animal Science, Gorgan University of Agricultural Science and Natural Resources, Gorgan
2- Vivan co., mashhad, Iran
2- Vivan co., mashhad, Iran
Abstract: (145 Views)
Introduction: Improved management and nutrition can lead to optimal growth, better feed efficiency and health in suckling calves. On the other hand, low growth rates can lead to low weaning weight and poor post-weaning growth that cannot be compensated for by future feeding. Also, for a sustainable and profitable livestock operation, the costs of rearing replacement heifers and the age at first calving should be lower. Feed additives are commonly used on the farm to improve the performance of young animals. Hence, the use of antibiotics has provided some of these benefits in calves for many years. However, the use of antibiotics in livestock production has become a sensitive issue due to reports of antibiotic resistance in human pathogens. In addition, there is growing concern about their effects on consumer health. Consequently, there is a need to replace these products with products such as probiotics. On the other hand, very limited studies have investigated the effects of yeast and bacteria in livestock, so considering the above points, this study was conducted to compare the use of different probiotics on performance, rumination behavior, blood parameters and liver enzymes of suckling Holstein calves.
Materials and Methods: In this study, 36 Holstein female suckling calves, aged approximately 7±3 days and with an initial body weight of 44.7±2 kg, were used with six treatments and six replications in a completely randomized design for 45 days. The experimental treatments included: 1- basal diet without additives (control), 2- basal diet containing Saccharomyces boulardii yeast, 3- basal diet containing Bacillus, 4- basal diet containing Lactobacillus, 5- basal diet containing Saccharomyces boulardii yeast + Lactobacillus, and 6- experimental diet containing Saccharomyces boulardii yeast + Lactobacillus + Bacillus. Probiotics were mixed with milk consumption in the morning meal at a rate of five gr per head and provided to the calves. During lactation, the calves were fed two daily meals of milk (seven in the morning and four in the afternoon) at a rate of 15% of their body weight. The feed given and the remaining feed for each animal were weighed and recorded on each day. The calves were weighed on days 0, 21, and 42 of the study in a fasting state, after 16 hours of starvation, using a digital scale. To calculate the daily weight gain, it was calculated by dividing the difference in weight in a time period by the number of days in the same time period. The amount of dry matter intake, daily weight gain, weight at the end of the period, and feed conversion ratio were also measured. The feed conversion ratio was also calculated by dividing the average amount of dry matter intake by each calf at the end of the period by the daily weight gain of the same animal in the entire period. On days 43 and 44 of the experimental period, feed consumption behavior was calculated by recording activity for a period of 24 hours. Blood sampling for measuring blood parameters was taken on a fasting state on the last day of the experiment in an amount of 10 cc from the jugular vein without the use of anticoagulant and was quickly sent to the laboratory in a flask containing ice.
Results: According to the results of the present study, adding probiotics to calf milk improved the weight at 21 days of age, weight gain from 1 to 21 days of age (P<0.05). Also, probiotic consumption caused a significant difference in final body weight and daily weight gain of the entire period (P<0.05). Weight changes, dry matter intake of the entire period, feed conversion ratio and daily dry matter intake were improved by adding probiotics to calf milk (P<0.05). At 21 days of age, there was no significant difference in body weight and daily weight gain among the groups receiving different probiotics, but the best performance in this parameter was related to calves receiving Bacillus. On the other hand, the final weight of the control group was lower than the other experimental groups (P<0.05); However, calves receiving boulardii yeast with Lactobacillus, boulardii + Bacillus and boulardii + Lactobacillus + Bacillus did not differ significantly from each other. While the final weight of calves receiving Bacillus was higher than the other groups (P<0.05). Among the experimental groups, calves receiving Bacillus had the lowest (1.24) and the control group had the highest (1.35) feed conversion ratio (P<0.05). According to the results of the present study, calves receiving Bacillus spent more time eating and ruminating (P<0.05). According to the results of our study, adding different probiotics to the milk of suckling calves did not have a significant effect on the concentration of cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose, urea nitrogen, total protein, albumin, globulin, and the ratio of these two. Also, adding probiotics to the milk of suckling calves did not have a significant effect on their very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) concentration. According to the results of the study, adding probiotics to calf milk did not affect the concentration of the enzymes aspartate aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase and alanine aminotransferase. Numerically, the activity of aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase enzymes in the control group calves was higher than in the other experimental groups, while the concentration of alkaline phosphatase was lower than in the other groups.
Conclusion: According to the results obtained in this study, the use of various probiotics improved weight gain, dry matter intake, feed conversion ratio, and overall performance of calves without any negative effect on the measured blood indices.
Materials and Methods: In this study, 36 Holstein female suckling calves, aged approximately 7±3 days and with an initial body weight of 44.7±2 kg, were used with six treatments and six replications in a completely randomized design for 45 days. The experimental treatments included: 1- basal diet without additives (control), 2- basal diet containing Saccharomyces boulardii yeast, 3- basal diet containing Bacillus, 4- basal diet containing Lactobacillus, 5- basal diet containing Saccharomyces boulardii yeast + Lactobacillus, and 6- experimental diet containing Saccharomyces boulardii yeast + Lactobacillus + Bacillus. Probiotics were mixed with milk consumption in the morning meal at a rate of five gr per head and provided to the calves. During lactation, the calves were fed two daily meals of milk (seven in the morning and four in the afternoon) at a rate of 15% of their body weight. The feed given and the remaining feed for each animal were weighed and recorded on each day. The calves were weighed on days 0, 21, and 42 of the study in a fasting state, after 16 hours of starvation, using a digital scale. To calculate the daily weight gain, it was calculated by dividing the difference in weight in a time period by the number of days in the same time period. The amount of dry matter intake, daily weight gain, weight at the end of the period, and feed conversion ratio were also measured. The feed conversion ratio was also calculated by dividing the average amount of dry matter intake by each calf at the end of the period by the daily weight gain of the same animal in the entire period. On days 43 and 44 of the experimental period, feed consumption behavior was calculated by recording activity for a period of 24 hours. Blood sampling for measuring blood parameters was taken on a fasting state on the last day of the experiment in an amount of 10 cc from the jugular vein without the use of anticoagulant and was quickly sent to the laboratory in a flask containing ice.
Results: According to the results of the present study, adding probiotics to calf milk improved the weight at 21 days of age, weight gain from 1 to 21 days of age (P<0.05). Also, probiotic consumption caused a significant difference in final body weight and daily weight gain of the entire period (P<0.05). Weight changes, dry matter intake of the entire period, feed conversion ratio and daily dry matter intake were improved by adding probiotics to calf milk (P<0.05). At 21 days of age, there was no significant difference in body weight and daily weight gain among the groups receiving different probiotics, but the best performance in this parameter was related to calves receiving Bacillus. On the other hand, the final weight of the control group was lower than the other experimental groups (P<0.05); However, calves receiving boulardii yeast with Lactobacillus, boulardii + Bacillus and boulardii + Lactobacillus + Bacillus did not differ significantly from each other. While the final weight of calves receiving Bacillus was higher than the other groups (P<0.05). Among the experimental groups, calves receiving Bacillus had the lowest (1.24) and the control group had the highest (1.35) feed conversion ratio (P<0.05). According to the results of the present study, calves receiving Bacillus spent more time eating and ruminating (P<0.05). According to the results of our study, adding different probiotics to the milk of suckling calves did not have a significant effect on the concentration of cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose, urea nitrogen, total protein, albumin, globulin, and the ratio of these two. Also, adding probiotics to the milk of suckling calves did not have a significant effect on their very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) concentration. According to the results of the study, adding probiotics to calf milk did not affect the concentration of the enzymes aspartate aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase and alanine aminotransferase. Numerically, the activity of aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase enzymes in the control group calves was higher than in the other experimental groups, while the concentration of alkaline phosphatase was lower than in the other groups.
Conclusion: According to the results obtained in this study, the use of various probiotics improved weight gain, dry matter intake, feed conversion ratio, and overall performance of calves without any negative effect on the measured blood indices.
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