COMPARISON OF TWO DIFFERENT MILK FEEDING SCHEDULES ON GROWTH PERFORMANCE OF HOLSTEIN CALVES DURING THE PRE-WEANING PERIOD

The objective of this study was to investigate the comparison of two different milk feeding schedules on growth performance of Holstein calves. Fourteen Holstein calves were housed in individual boxes. Calves were divided into 2 groups (n=7); first group was fed with whole milk with the amount of 10% of their body weight (Conventional Milk Feeding Program= CFP), while second group was fed with whole milk adjusted weekly according to their body weight (Adjusted Weekly Feeding Program= AFP), started from 7%. The experiment was applied on 4-days-old calves after colostrum feeding and weaned while calves were 56 days old. Final BW was found very close in each group (59.13 +/- 1.15vs 57.38 +/- 1.05 kg, respectively in CFP and AFP). Starter DMI was numerically greater in CFP compared to APP during the pre-weaning period (0.860 +/- 0.16 vs 0.754 +/- 0.16 kg/d, respectively). Body measurements (BMs) were similar during the pre-weaning period in each group excluding Chest Girth (CG). Although the numerical differences were found among groups BW, BMs, Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR) and Fecal score, these differences were not significant. The calves' performance and health were not affected by the level of milk feeding during the pre-weaning period.