Relationships Between Protein And Energy Consumed From Milk Replacer And Starter And Calf Growth And First Lactation Production Performance Of Holstein Dairy Cows

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine metabolizable energy (ME) and protein consumed from both milk replacer and starter and its relationship to calf growth and first lactation 305-day milk and milk components. Data was collected from Holstein dairy calves (n = 4,534) raised at the Southern Research and Outreach Center (SROC) from 2004-2014 to assess whether early life protein and ME consumption were related to calf growth. First-lactation data was analyzed for 3,627 cows from the calf dataset. Effects of birth season on protein and ME consumption were also analyzed. The results suggest that early life protein and ME consumption has a positive correlation with calf average daily gain (ADG) as well as first-lactation 305-d milk and milk components. The results also suggest that birth season plays a role in ME and protein consumed, with calves born in the fall and winter consuming more ME and protein than calves born in the spring and summer months.