Nutritional Strategies to Promote Calf Health During the Liquid Feeding Period
2003
Drackley, James K.
Morbidity and mortality of pre-weaned dairy calves remains a significant problem in the United States. Appropriate nutrition is a critically important component of optimal health for young dairy calves. However, good nutrition cannot overcome the negative effects of poor environmental conditions and large pathogen loads. While no nutritional "magic bullets" exist, improving nutrition of calves in the overall context of good management can be expected to benefit health. Perhaps, the biggest window for improvement lies in improving energy and protein supply to calves during the first two to three weeks of life. Considerable evidence in calves and in other species points to the detrimental effects of inadequate milk intake on susceptibility to disease or impaired function of the immune system. Many feed ingredients and additives are available that have been purported to improve health in calves. The evidence for efficacy of these materials is briefly reviewed in this paper.
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