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Stanton PhD Thesis final_docx - Atrium - University of Guelph

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1.4.2 Nutritional Stressors<br />

Dairy calves are primarily fed a milk based diet until weaning is initiated. Energy intake<br />

in the pre-weaning period is currently recommended to be 4.8-5.3 Mcal/day for a 50 kg calf<br />

under thermoneutral conditions in order to gain 1.0 kg/day (Drackley, 2008). The traditional<br />

feeding practice for North American calves is to feed 10% <strong>of</strong> their body weight; a 45 kg calf is<br />

fed 4.5 kg <strong>of</strong> milk. However, recent data from the National Research Council found that 45 kg<br />

calves need to consume approximately 2.5L <strong>of</strong> whole milk for maintenance and the remaining<br />

milk can be used for growth (National Research Council, 2001; Drackley, 2008). These<br />

calculations are based on a thermoneutral environment , which does not require animals to exert<br />

energy to maintain homeostasis; heat or cold can increase the maintenance demands <strong>of</strong> calves<br />

further reducing the energy available for growth on a restricted feeding regime (as reviewed by<br />

Drackley, 2008). For this reason, the recommended caloric intake <strong>of</strong> calves has begun to change,<br />

with the National Farm Animal Council’s Code <strong>of</strong> Practice for Care and Handling <strong>of</strong> Dairy<br />

Cattle recommending calves be fed 20% <strong>of</strong> their body weight (National Farm Animal Council,<br />

2009).<br />

To avoid a post-weaning slump in weight gain when calves transition from a primarily<br />

milk based diet to a grain based diet it is essential that their rumen is adequately developed to<br />

absorb nutrients from a grain based diet. At birth, a calf’s rumen is small and underdeveloped.<br />

Highly fermentable dry feed is necessary for it to develop in size, musculature and absorptive<br />

capacity (Davis and Drackley, 1998). It takes approximately three weeks <strong>of</strong> grain and water<br />

intake for the rumen to develop to a size and absorptive capacity that is necessary for<br />

maintenance <strong>of</strong> growth and four months for it to reach the size <strong>of</strong> a mature animal (Davis and<br />

10

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