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Future Perspective on Accelerated Milk Replacer Feeding
Accelerated milk replacer feeding can be defined as feeding a high enough plane of nutrition from liquid feeding to meet maintenance requirements and provide nutrients to support the genetic potential for growth rate. Traditional milk replacer feeding practices have focused on meeting maintenance requirements and modest growth rates early in the liquid feeding phase followed by starter grain intake for enhanced growth late in the liquid feeding phase and prior to weaning. Data clearly support advantages to increasing the plane of nutrition early in the calf’s life to support growth rates that double birth body weight by weaning. Enhanced early life stage nutrition likely induces cellular changes and hormonal signaling that prepare the calf to take advantage of a nutrient rich environment later in life for expression of true genetic lactation potential.
Implementation of feeding a higher plane of nutrition during the liquid feeding phase has been met with some challenges in the field. Not all calves have accepted the higher nutrient intake well and the greater amounts of nutrient delivery through liquid feeding have reduced starter grain intake and delayed rumen development. The introduction of automated calf feeding systems or feeding liquids more than twice daily through traditional methods may be ways to avoid the satiety effects. Additionally, precision feeding programs, such as feeding on a percentage of body weight can potentially optimize nutrient intake per individual calf and help reduce the risk of over or under feeding. Balancing nutrient intake from both liquid and solid feeds during the liquid feeding phase will likely be the best way of achieving desired growth rates, optimizing efficiency of growth, and consistently producing a healthy replacement heifer.
Historically all milk protein milk replacers have been used in accelerated calf feeding programs. Alternative non-milk proteins are likely to replace some of the milk protein in accelerated milk replacers as the cost of whey protein and other milk proteins increase and the use of whey in human protein supplements and food products increases. Additionally, as dairy herds have become larger the use of pasteurized non-saleable milk in replacement of a milk replacer increases. Programs designed to optimize milk solids intake to achieve success as an accelerated calf feeding program are needed.
Keywords: Calves Milk Replacer