Effect of weaning age on growth performance, feed efficiency, nutrient digestibility and blood-biochemical parameters in Droughtmaster crossbred beef calves

Autor: Hui Tao, Feng Guo, Yan Tu, Bing-Wen Si, Yu-Chuan Xing, De-Jun Huang, Qi-Yu Diao
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2018
Předmět:
Zdroj: Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences, Vol 31, Iss 6, Pp 864-872 (2018)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1011-2367
1976-5517
DOI: 10.5713/ajas.17.0539
Popis: Objective The objective of this study was to determine the effect of weaning age on intake, performance, nutrition metabolism and serum parameters of beef calves. Methods Sixty Droughtmaster crossbred calves were assigned to 5 groups with 12 calves in each group. The calves in control group remained with the dams till the 22-week age, while the calves weaned at 28 d (4 wk), 42 d (6 wk), 56 d (8 wk), and 70 d (10 wk) of age were sent to group 4 wk, group 6 wk, group 8 wk, and group 10 wk, respectively, and then were fed on milk replacer till the 22-week age. Feed intake and body weight and size were record and blood metabolites were measured. And 24 calves of them (6 in each group) were picked randomly for digestion and metabolism trail. Feed, feces and urine sample were taken and measured. Results Dry matter intake of calves in group 4 wk was significantly lower than those in the remaining groups from wk 17 to 22 (p0.05) but was higher than that of group 4 wk (p
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals