Effect of weaning twice daily milk fed calves at low or high levels of concentrate intake on performance to 12 weeks old

Abstract

Artificial rearing is a common practice for rearing calves from the dairy herd destined for beef production. In commercial practice calves are typically weaned from 5 to 9 weeks old. There are four criteria that can be used to determine weaning time: age, compound feed intake, liveweight and milk price. Late weaning systems are based on the theory of giving the calf the best possible start in life, but are costly with high milk intakes (Davis and Drackley, 1998). Hence emphasis is usually placed on early weaning of the calf and encouraging concentrate intake. A number of factors can affect concentrate intake including quality and quantity of milk fed, size of the calf and concentrate texture. Recommendations are to typically wean calves when eating 1kg concentrate per day. The objective of this experiment was to evaluate the effect of weaning twice daily milk fed calves on either a low (0.75kg) or high (1.25kg) concentrate intake on performance to 12 weeks old.