THE EFFECT OF LEVEL AND FREQUENCY OF FEEDING WHOLE MILK ON BODY WEIGHT GAIN AND FEED CONVERSION OF CALVES

Abstract

Thirty-two male Holstein calves, beginning at 1 wk of age, were used to estimate differences in weight gain between two feeding levels and two feeding frequencies over a period of 3 wk. Calves were randomly assigned to one of the following four treatments: whole milk (WM) fed at 10% of body weight (BW) twice a day; WM fed at 10% BW, three times a day; WM fed at 12% of BW, in two feedings per day, or WM fed at 12% of BW, in three feedings per day. Body weight gains and feed conversions were 279 and 437 g per day and 12.02 and 9.51 kg whole milk per kilogram of gain for the 10 and 12% levels of feeding, respectively. There was a trend towards increased rate of gain and improved feed efficiency when calves were fed twice compared to three times a day. Cost of medication was not influenced by level or frequency of feeding. It was concluded from this study that feeding whole milk at 12% of body weight was preferable to feeding at the 10% level of intake. Key words: Milk feeding, level, frequency, dairy calves