Growth rate dependence on micronutrient provision in replacement heifers during the intrauterine period

Abstract

According to the developmental origins of health and disease (DoHaD) hypothesis, the conditions during intrauterine development have a long-term effect on postnatal growth and animal health. This study aimed to determine the relationship between fetal micronutrient provision in the last three months of intrauterine development and growth intensity indicators in the first 180 days after birth. This study focused on 40 clinically healthy Simmental heifers. Samples of non-pigmented tail hair were collected from newborns before their first colostrum feeding. The micronutrient content (selenium, copper, zinc, manganese, cobalt, iron, chromium, and molybdenum) was analyzed using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (Nexion 300D, Perkin Elmer, USA). Calf weight was measured on the first day of life and at 180 days, and average daily weight gain was calculated. The relationships between the variables were analyzed using Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient in IBM SPSS Statistics 20.0 (IBM Corp., USA). No significant correlations were found between the weights of the newborn calves and the micronutrient content in their hair samples. However, at 180 days of age, calf weight and average daily weight gain (in the first 180 days of life) correlated with the selenium (r = 0.349 and r = 0.408, p < 0.05, respectively), copper (r = 0.378 and r = 0.440, p < 0.01, respectively), zinc (r = 0.455 and r = 0.481, p < 0.01, respectively), and cobalt (r = 0.304 and r = 0.344, p < 0.05, respectively) contents in the hair samples of newborns. No correlations were found for manganese, iron, chromium, and molybdenum.