Effect of diet on fasting blood glucose levels in dairy calves 1 to 13 weeks old

Abstract

Fourteen male Holstein-Fresian calves, 3–4 days of age, were placed on one of four diets for a 13-week experimental period. The diets included the following: milk and milk solids; milk and grain; milk, grain, and hay, inoculated (rumen ingesta from a mature steer introduced via stomach tube into the rumen of an experimental calf); or milk and grain, inoculated. Significant differences were noted in the effect of diet, age, and the interaction of diet and age on the fasting level of blood glucose. The calves on the diet containing milk and milk solids maintained a constant level of fasting blood glucose; however, the inclusion of grain and hay in the diet resulted in a decline of the fasting blood glucose. The rumen inoculation of one of the groups of calves on the milk and grain diet did not result in a fasting blood glucose which was statistically different from that of the calves not inoculated. ruminant blood glucose; diet and age interaction; milk solids Submitted on February 26, 1963