Weaning of Holtein male calves with different diets. I. Feeding an growing performance

Abstract

Twenty-four Holstein mael calves were used in a randonmized block design evaluating 4 treatments ; A) without roughages; B) with alfalfa hay; C) with Rhode s grass hay and D) with corn silage. All the treatments had milk up to 7 weeks old and calf starter up to 2.5 kg per calf per day. The experimental period was from 2 to 12 weeks old. Average daily gains were: A: 0.356kg; B: 0.519kg; C) 0.404kg and a D: 0.548kg. Treatments B and D presented significantly higher weight gains than C and A (p≤ 0.01) Calves on D ingested more calf starter (77 .6 kg) than calves on C (57.4kg); the B (73.1kg) and D calves ingested more calf starter than ones on A (52.1kg). The conclusion is that calves had higher performances with good palatability roughages, and among the forrages alfalfa hay presented better results considering all periods of life.