Short report: Nucleotides supplementation to whole milk has beneficial effects on post-weaning Holstein calf performance
Abstract The positive effects of nucleotides (NU) supplementation in milk replacer has been elucidated in infants and in dairy calves; however, NU addition to whole milk has not been evaluated previously. This study aimed to assess NU supplementation in the whole milk on calf growth and health. Thirty Holstein calves (body weight: 39.1 ± 1.0 kg; 3 d after birth) were randomly assigned to following treatments: whole milk without any supplementation (NU0), whole milk + 0.5 g/d added NU to whole milk (NU0.5), and whole milk + 1 g/d added NU to whole milk (NU1). Calves were weaned at d 55 and stayed on study until d 75. Calves had free access to feed and water throughout the study. Calves fed all treatments were similar (P > 0.05) in dry matter intake (DMI) during the pre-weaning period, however increasing NU supplementation resulted in a linear (P < 0.05) increase in DMI during the post weaning period. Treatments did not affect body weight (BW) at the first and second month of study but final BW linearly increased as NU was added. Neither pre-weaning average daily gain nor post-weaning average daily gain were affected by treatments; accordingly, feed efficiency was similar among treatment groups. Days with loose fecal score were linearly decreased as NU was added to whole milk during the first month of life, while the fecal score did not differ among treatments until the end of the study. No difference was observed in the skeletal growth of calves in the current study. Therefore, it can be concluded that NU supplementation in the whole milk has some beneficial effects on calf performance in terms of final BW, post-weaning DMI, and less days with loose feces.