Randomized clinical trial investigating the effect of a more liberal milk allowance in the days after birth on the health and growth of pre-weaned dairy calves

Abstract

While the level of milk intake from birth to weaning is positively associated with pre-weaning health, growth, and improved milk production in the adult dairy cow, producers are still reluctant to offer large volumes of milk during the first week or two of life due to concerns that increasing the daily allowance too quickly may cause nutritional (milk) scours. However, recent observational studies have reported a positive association between levels of milk consumption in  the first days of life and future health events. The objective of this study was to describe the effect of offering a more liberal volume of milk immediately from day 1 of life, as compared to a traditional ramp-up program. We hypothesized that calves offered more milk early in life would not experience more scours, but rather would experience improved health and growth as compared to calves that were slowly ramped up in their daily milk allowance over a period of 7 - 14 days.