Effects of isoenergetic supplementation as water use mitigation strategy on water footprint and health of nursing bull calves.

Autor: Macias Franco A; Department of Agriculture, Veterinary, and Rangeland Sciences, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, Nevada 89557, USA., da Silva AEM; Department of Agriculture, Veterinary, and Rangeland Sciences, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, Nevada 89557, USA., de Moura FH; Department of Agriculture, Veterinary, and Rangeland Sciences, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, Nevada 89557, USA., Norris AB; Department of Natural Resources Management, Texas Tech University, Texas 79409USA.; Department of Agriculture, Veterinary, and Rangeland Sciences, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, Nevada 89557, USA., Roloson SB; Department of Agriculture, Veterinary, and Rangeland Sciences, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, Nevada 89557, USA., Gerrard DE; Department of Animal and Poultry Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, USA., de Mello A; Department of Agriculture, Veterinary, and Rangeland Sciences, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, Nevada 89557, USA., Fonseca MA; Department of Agriculture, Veterinary, and Rangeland Sciences, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, Nevada 89557, USA.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Translational animal science [Transl Anim Sci] 2023 Nov 16; Vol. 7 (1), pp. txad127. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 Nov 16 (Print Publication: 2023).
DOI: 10.1093/tas/txad127
Abstrakt: Sustainable livestock systems focus on mitigating natural resource use such as water. Dietary management strategies can significantly reduce the water footprint of livestock animals; however, animal health is of concern when animals reduce water intake due to subacute dehydration. To evaluate potential consequences of this nutritional management intervention, a total of 23, 60 ± 3 days old nursing Holstein bull calves, weighing 94.7 ± 12.07 kg, were distributed in a completely randomized design and received one of three diets. Control was a basal diet composed of a non-medicated milk replacer (milk replacer; n = 7), and the additional two diets, were composed of the same non-medicated milk replacer in addition to either lipid [n = 8; milk replacer + menhaden fish oil (3 %)] or soluble carbohydrate [n = 8; milk replacer + corn starch (7%) isoenergetic to fat group] supplements. Animals were offered ad libitum mineral mix and water, as well as 120 g/day of a composite mix of dried microbrewery's spent grains. Data were analyzed as linear and generalized linear mixed models with diet as a fixed effect and animal as random utilizing R studio (R Core Team, 2021, Vienna, Austria; SAS Inst., Cary, NC). Within supplementation groups, lipid supplemented calves had the highest lymphocyte (63.24 vs 57.69 counts/100 lymphocytes; P < 0.033), and lowest neutrophil counts (29.3 vs 35.3 counts/100 lymphocytes; P  < 0.047). Supplementation significantly increased total serum protein ( P  = 0.001) and skin moisture ( P  < 0.011), with carbohydrate group having the highest skin moisture (5.30 vs 3.99; P  < 0.047). Supplementation also decreased fecal fluidity scores (P < 0.001) with no significant change in serum electrolytes ( P  > 0.256). No significant differences were found amongst treatments for the ingestive behavior ( P  > 0.338). The carbohydrate-supplemented calves significantly decreased all daily water footprints compared to the control and fat-supplemented groups: blue a 47.55 L decrease, ( P  < 0.001), green a 265.62 L decrease ( P  = 0.005), and gray a 55.87 L decrease ( P  = 0.009) water footprint, as well as total water footprint (369.04 L, P  = 0.004). Our results indicate the potential to maintain animal performance while increasing water use efficiency through diet supplementation tailored to mitigate water use, without adverse effects on animal health.
Competing Interests: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
(© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Society of Animal Science.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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