By Jessica Mitchell
Feeding forage to pre-weaned calves has been a topic of discussion for many years, with arguments both for and against. Research has shown that providing forage with starter – compared to starter only – can increase starter intake and average daily gain and decrease unwanted behaviors, such as tongue rolling and pen-directed sucking [1, 2]. However, concerns arise when forage supplementation exceeds 10-15% of total dry matter (DM) intake because this may limit starter intake [3].
Not all forages are created equal, and the type of forage is an important factor that should be considered. Two popular forage types are oat and alfalfa hay. Few studies, however, have compared the effect of these two types of forage on the health and performance of pre-weaning calves together in the same study.
In a recent article published in the Journal of Dairy Science, Zhang et al. (2024) explored "what happens" when calves are fed different types of forage during the pre-weaning period [4]. The researchers were also interested to see if any effects persisted into the first lactation.
To address these questions, 60 female Holstein calves were assigned to 1 of 3 dietary treatment groups at 30 days of age:
- Milk + pelleted starter only
- Milk + pelleted starter + oat hay (9.3% crude protein, 53.3% neutral detergent fiber, DM basis)
- Milk + pelleted starter + alfalfa hay (16.8% crude protein, 36.1% neutral detergent fiber, DM basis)
Oat and alfalfa hay were supplemented from 30 to 73 days of age, and calves were fed pasteurized whole milk (according to the schedule in Table 1). After weaning, housing and husbandry practices were the same for all calves.
Source : psu.edu