Evaluation of calf starter meals for raising dairy calves in Botswana

doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-2233488/v1

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Evaluation of calf starter meals for raising dairy calves in Botswana

https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2233488/v1

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In dairy, calves are the future replacement stock and need special attention including a good feed management system to attain better conversion efficiency and desired liveweight gains. The Department of Agricultural Research developed a calf starter meal (NEW) from locally available feed resources. The NEW meal was compared with existing meals: SBL and VAN during an on-station trial and, Deo Volente and Derust during an on-farm trial. Thirty-three and 25 pre-weaned Friesian calves with an average initial weight of 38.3 ± 2.5kg and 37.3 ± 1.9kg were randomly allocated to the different diets during the on-station and on-farm trials, respectively. Consumption of the NEW calf meal was significantly (p < 0.05) lower than that of SBL and VAN diets, significantly (p < 0.05) higher than that of Derust diet and comparable to Deo Volente diet (p > 0.05). The feed conversion ratio of the NEW diet was significantly (p < 0.05) lower than diets for the on-station trial and comparable to diets for the on-farm trials (p > 0.05). There was no significant difference (p > 0.05) in body weight gains across the diets. The NEW diet had a lower cost per body weight gain of a calf and a better efficiency of feed utilization compared to all the other diets. The attributes of the NEW diet were rated highly during the on-farm trials. In conclusion, the NEW meal compared relatively well with the other commercial diets used by dairy farmers. The NEW diet is made of locally available resources; cheaper and hence, it can be used to feed dairy calves.

Botswana

Body weight gain

Calf starter meals

Dairy calves

Local resources

Botswana has a high deficiency of milk and milk products; this could partly be attributed to a low population of dairy animals. In trying to address this, the government of Botswana has prioritized the development of the dairy sub-sector during the National Development Plan (NDP) 11. The proper management of calves is therefore critical for the increase of the national dairy herd, local milk production and food security. An optimum nutritional level for calves is needed for them to attain about 70–75% of mature body weight at puberty. Poor feeding of calves leads to a higher age at first calving and overall loss of productivity in the life span of a dairy cow.

There is a need to develop calf feeds which can save on the use of milk and allow an adequate development of pre-weaned calves (Garcia-Lopez and Ybalmea, 1995). Such feeds should allow optimum growth rates for replacement dairy heifers to reach their breeding weights (360-400kg for Friesian and Brown Swiss, 225-260kg for Jersey and 275-310kg for Guernsey and Ayrshire) and age (14–16 months for Friesian and Brown Swiss and 13–15 months for Jersey, Guernsey and Ayrshire) (Hofman et al., 2007). However, available commercial calf starter meals are too expensive for many farmers in Botswana and/or are of poor nutritional quality. Dairy farmers then substitute them with locally produced, but often low quality feeds (Mahabile, 2005). In many instances, especially where there is competition for milk between the calf and the farming household, calves are weaned from milk or milk substitutes at an early age of about 2 to 3 weeks old and let out to graze on the range (veld) long before proper development of the reticulo-rumen ( Heinrichs, 1996; Coverdale et al., 2004) and well before the age of 2 to 3 months; which is considered to be the most critical period in calf rearing (Winter, 1978; Coverdale et al., 2004).

To address the shortage of dairy animals and milk production in Botswana, the Department of Agricultural Research (DAR) conducted a study to evaluate calf starter meals produced from locally available resources to ensure that calves are adequately supplied with balanced nutrients for their optimal growth. This technology is beneficial to dairy farmers as it enables them to improve growth rates, reduce mortalities of dairy calves and in turn increase national herd populations and milk production. The objectives of this study were to develop calf starter meals for dairy calves, evaluate their effect on calf growth during the pre-weaning period; compare their costs and to assess dairy farmers’ perceptions of the calf starter meals.

Study sites

The on-station trials were done at Sebele Dairy Research farm. The farm is in the south-eastern part of the country, at 24^o 33’ 0’’ S – 25^o 57’ 0’’ E, altitude 994m. It is characterized by flat to gently undulating plains with kopjes, pediments and granite soils. The mean annual rainfall is 650 mm with respective average monthly minimum and maximum temperatures of 4.1^oC and 34.4^oC. The grass quality and quantity fluctuate seasonally, being adequate from October to March and, the vegetation consists of mixed Acacia savanna with Combretum apiculatum and Burkea africana while the herbaceous layer is comprised mostly of Eragrostis rigidior and Erarostis species.

The on-farm studies were carried out at privately owned dairy farms. The study intended to target dairy farms in all ten agricultural districts of the country. However, active dairy farms are currently located in some districts such as central, south-eastern, southern and Ngamiland. The inclusion criteria for study collaborative dairy farms were the availability of necessary infrastructure (feeding and watering troughs, scales, individual housing), enough feed and suitable study animals. Based on the inclusion criteria and being active, two dairy farms (Deo Volente and Derust) were selected for the on-farm trials, and they are categorized as small to medium scale farms. The selected dairy farms are in the south-eastern part of Botswana with hills and escarpments being the main landforms. The area is characterized by a semi-arid continental climate with summer rainfalls (October – March) of about 475–525 mm per annum which occur as short high intensity spells. The temperatures exhibit high annual and diurnal ranges with mean maximum temperature ranges between 19.6^oC–40^oC in summer while winter temperatures are low and can go below 0^oC in extreme cold winter nights.

Calf starter meals

A total of five different diets (Table 1) were used in this study and these were the Van Merwe modified (VAN), Sebele (SBL), New (NEW) calf starter meals and two from the selected private dairy farms; Deo Volente and Derust dairy farm calf starter meals. VAN is a calf starter meal developed in South Africa (SA) and it has been widely used to raise pre-weaned calves by many institutions in southern Africa. However, institutions modified it to suit their needs and situations and the DAR modified the feed to suit Botswana. SBL is a calf starter meal formulated by DAR in the past using available feed ingredients on the local market and it has been used at Sebele ranch for many years. NEW is a recently formulated calf diet for feeding young dairy calves. It is mostly made of locally available feed resources. Deo Volente is a calf starter meal used at this farm and, it is made of ingredients that are accessible to the farm and believed to give optimum production of the herd. The Derust calf meal, sourced from SA is comprised of commercial calf pallets used at this farm. The ingredients and composition of the diets are as summarized in Table 1.

Table 1

Ingredients and composition of diets used during the on-station and on-farm trials
	% Inclusion
Ingredient	VAN	SBL	NEW	Deo Volente	*Derust
	-	-	-	-	Calf Pellets
Ground maize	53.5	47.5	48.5	-	-
Sunflower-seed cake	30.0	34.0	-	-	-
DCP	0.5	0.5	0.5	-	-
Soya bean meal	-	-	20	-	-
Soya bean oil cake	-	-	-	15.0	-
Sorghum bran	-	-	15	-	-
Wheat bran	-	10.0	-	-	-
Molasses liquid	5.0	7.0	5.0	22.0	-
Lucerne	10.0	-	10.0	-	-
Salt	0.5	0.5	0.5	-	-
Vitamin & mineral (Premix)	0.5	0.5	0.5	-	-
Calf gainer⁶⁵	-	-	-	3.2	-
Grass Hay	-	-	-	2.5	-
Chop	-	-	-	58.0	-
Total	100	100	100	100.7	100
*Calf pellets used by Derust were manufactured and bought in South Africa

Study design

The on-station and on-farm studies were done for a period of 12 weeks (pre-weaning stage).

On-station trial

Thirty-three (33) Friesian female calves aged between 0 to 3 months from the Sebele Dairy Research Farm were used in this on-station trial. The calves were randomly assigned to three experimental diets: VAN, SBL and NEW calf starter meals in a completely randomized design (CRD). Each experimental diet comprised of 11 female calves housed in individual pens.

During the adaptation period, calves were fed 4 litres of whole milk per day (2 litres each in the morning and afternoon) and gradually reduced as intake of solid feed increased. The animals were also offered portable water adlib. The different trial diets were offered in the morning at around 0830 hours. Subsequently during the trial period, the amount of feed offered for each diet was adjusted at two weeks interval based on body weight. Feed intake was determined daily by subtracting the feed leftover from (in the bucket) the quantity of feed offered to each animal. Experimental animals were weighed fortnightly.

On-farm trials

The pre-released calf starter diet NEW was evaluated against the farmers’ calf starter diets. Participating dairy farmers were supplied with the NEW calf starter meal and were asked to compare it with their calf starter meals. The studies were farmer-managed farmer-implemented (FMFI) with little intervention from researchers. Similar approaches were employed both on station and on-farm trials. Experiments for comparison between NEW and dairy farmers’ calf starter meals were conducted on the two selected different dairy farms; Deo Volente and Derust dairies.

Data collection

Data was collected on feed quality, feed intake (FI – daily and total), feed conversion ratio (FCR), calf performance (body weight gains) and cost of feeding (partial budget analysis). The data collected on feed quality included dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), calcium (Ca), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg), crude fibre (CF), ash, acid detergent fibre (ADF) and neutral detergent fibre (NDF). The chemical composition of feed offered during the study were analyzed according to the standard procedures of AOAC (2005) and for NDF and ADF as described in the Van Soest et al. (1991) procedure.

Dairy farmers of the two selected dairy farms who participated in the studies were asked about their perceptions of the NEW calf starter meal compared to their diets. A questionnaire was used to obtain the farmer’s perceptions and it covered several attributes of the diet that included quality, affordability, availability, constituents, palatability, appearance, texture, storage, influence and applicability.

Statistical analysis

Data was analyzed using general linear models (GLM) procedures of Statistical Analysis System (SAS v. 9.4, 2012). Duncan’s new multiple range test (DMRT) and least significant difference (LSD) tests were used to compare mean differences of different diets.

$${y}_{ij=\mu +Ti+{E}_{ij}}$$

Y _ij is the j_th observation of the i_th treatment

µ is the grand mean

T _i is the treatment (diet) effect

E _ij is the random error

Dependent (Yij) variables were body weight, feed intake and FCR

Independent Variable or predictor (Ti) was the diet

Economic Evaluation

While undertaking the studies the costs of all feed ingredients and diets were sourced from feed suppliers. The costs were used to establish market prices of diets and ingredients used. Costs were calculated based each experimental diet used. Eventually a partial budget analysis was performed based on the following:

Total feed fed (kg) - This was the total amount of feed fed to animals during the entire study period).
Cost of feeding in Botswana Pula (BWP: 1BWP = 0.075USD/1USD = 13.38BWP) – It is the total cost of all feed ingredients used to compound diets
Body weight (BW) gain (kg) – It is the difference between final and initial weights
Feeding cost/kg BW gain (BWP) – It is the total amount of feed fed divided by the total body weight gain

The results of the current study (both on-station and on-farm evaluations) are presented in Tables 2, 3 and 4.

Table 2

Compositional quality of dairy calf starter meals used during the study
	Experimental diets (%)
Parameters	VAN	SBL	NEW	Deo Volente	Derust
DM	93.6	92.1	94.2	96.0	93.8
CP	17.0	20.2	16.6	18.0	15.8
Ca	0.6	0.5	0.7	0.8	1.4
P	0.5	0.7	0.4	0.8	0.3
K	1.0	1.0	1.1	0.8	1.0
Mg	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3
Ash	-	-	5.5	6.6	7.0
CF	-	-	22.2	14.4	6.3
ADF	-	-	21.8	15.4	8.7
NDF	-	-	43.5	34.7	16.1

Table 3

Means and standard errors for feed intake, weight gain and feed conversion ratio
Treatment	N	Daily feed intake	Live weight		Body weight gain	FCR
On-station trial
			Initial weight	Final weight
SBL	11	0.9 ± 0.04^a	38.1 ± 2.6^a	97.1 ± 5.3^a	56.3 ± 5.3^a	1.4^ab
VAN	11	0.9 ± 0.04^a	37.1 ± 2.4^a	96.5 ± 4.4^ab	55.8 ± 4.4^a	1.5^a
NEW	11	0.6 ± 0.04^b	39.8 ± 2.6^a	88.0 ± 4.5^b	47.3 ± 4.5^a	1.1^b
F-test		24.8	0.3	2.0	1.1	2.1
P-value		< 0.001	0.8	< 0.001	0.4	< 0.03
On-farm trials
Trial 1
Deo Volente	7	0.8 ± 0.01^a	43.7 ± 2.1^a	90.9 ± 9.5^a	46.6 ± 9.46^a	1.6^a
NEW	7	0.9 ± 0.01^a	36.4 ± 2.1^a	112.2 ± 9.5^a	67.9 ± 9.45^a	1.1^b
F-Test		1.8	4.93	0.3	2.2	3.8
P-value		0.2	0.1	0.7	0.2	0.001
Trial 2
Derust	5	0.4 ± 0.02^b	34.7 ± 1.55^a	80.3 ± 6.72^a	45.4 ± 6.91^a	0.9^a
NEW	6	0.5 ± 0.02^a	34.8 ± 1.73^a	70.1 ± 7.57^a	35.5 ± 7.72^a	1.3^a
F-test		4.77	0.12	1.01	0.93	4.2
P-value		0.03	1.0	0.4	0.4	0.3
Variables for the same trial in a column with different superscripts are significantly different at P < 0.05

Table 4

Cost analysis per unit calf for different diets during experimental period
	Treatments
	On-station			On-farm trial 1		On-farm trial 2
Variables	NEW	VAN	SBL	NEW	Deo Volente	NEW	Derust
Concentrates fed (kg)	28.0	61.7	38.7	35.9	41.7	38.9	28.1
Cost of feeding (BWP)	154.76	494.47	293.77	148.23	146.98	160.60	158.34
Body weight (BW) gain (kg)	10.4	12.7	12.2	8.9	8.7	7.1	7.2
Feeding cost/kg BW gain (BWP)	1.35	3.55	2.19	2.39	2.41	3.78	4.41
BOTSWANA Pula (BWP)
1BWP = 0.075USD/1USD = 13.38BWP

Compositional quality

The feed quality analysis results of the experimental diets from the laboratory are shown in Table 2. The proximate analysis results show that the calf starter meals met the nutrient requirements of the calves. The DM varied from 92.1–96%. The SBL calf starter meal had the highest CP% (20.2) and Derust the lowest (15.8). P was highest for Deo Volente (0.8) and lowest for Derust (0.3). The values of Ca, K and M were comparable among the diets. NEW diet had significantly higher values of CF, ADF and NDF compared to the Deo Volente and Derust dairy farm meals.

Feed intakes

The results for on-station show that the NEW diet had a significantly (p < 0.05) lower daily feed intake compared to the other diets (Table 3). During on-farm trial 1 at Deo Volente dairy farm, there was no significant (p > 0.05) difference in consumption between the diets. In on-farm trial 2 at Derust farm, the consumption of NEW diet was significantly (p < 0.05) higher than the Derust diet (Table 3).

Body weight gains

During on-station and at private farms, there was no significant difference in body weight gains across the dietary treatments in both trials 1 and 2 (Table 3). However, dairy calves consuming NEW calf starter meal had a significantly (p < 0.05) lower final weights compared to SBL calves during on-station trial.

Feed conversion ratios

The mean FCR expressed as kilograms (kg) of feed intake (FI) of weight gained showed differences among the dietary treatments (Table 3). The FCR value was highest for the VAN (1.5) and lowest for the NEW (1.1) diet. However, the NEW calf starter had a higher efficiency of feed utilization compared to VAN and SBL diets. During on-farm evaluation, the mean FCR for the NEW diet was significantly (p < 0.05) lower in trial 1 compared to the dairy farm diet (Table 3). In trial 2 there was no significant (p > 0.05) difference in the mean FCR for the NEW and dairy farm diets (Table 3).

Economic evaluation

The NEW diet recorded the lowest total cost (BWP 154.8) for feeding over the experimental period per animal (Table 4). Similarly, the cost of feed per kg body weight gain for a calf fed the NEW (BWP 1.4) diet was the lowest (Table 4). The total concentrate fed to a calf was lower for the NEW calf starter meal in trial 1 while it was higher for trial 2 compared to the dairy farm diets (Table 4). The total cost of feeding per calf was higher for the NEW diet on both trials. However, the feeding cost/kg BW gain was lower for the NEW diet on both trials (Table 4).

Farmer’s perceptions

Except for affordability and storage, the other attributes of the NEW diet (quality, availability, constituents, palatability, appearance, texture, influence and applicability) were rated highly by the two participating dairy farms. Generally, dairy farmers showed acceptance of the NEW calf starter meal as a good initiative compared to their diets.

Most parameters measured on the compositional quality of feeds in the current study are within the National Research Council (2002) standards and Botswana Bureau of Standards (2014) on animal feeding stuffs-cattle feed-specification. All the diets or calf starter meals met the nutrient requirement of a young calf during the pre-weaning stage. This could be so because the diets were developed and formulated to meet the requirements of a growing animal. Furthermore, the NEW calf starter meal like other meals was formulated considering feed resources/ingredients available and produced locally, mostly in local livestock feed requisites shops. Gleeson and O’Brien (2012) stated that DM is an estimate of the amount of nutrients which remain in the feedstuff after removal of moisture, and it consists of carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, minerals and vitamins. The DM content of the NEW calf starter meal was above 90% and comparable to the on-station and on-trial diets. It was comparable to DM content (88.81%) of a calf starter meal as reported by Toth et al. (2019). The high DM in the NEW diet calf meal indicates low moisture content which improves handling, storage and transportation (Tan et al., 2013). Like DM, the CP (16.6%) content of the NEW calf starter meal was comparable to the on-station and on-trial diets and to that of other starter meals (Toth et al., 2019). Literature shows that the calf starter rations should contain about 16 to 21% crude protein with added minerals and vitamins. In yet another study at the University of Florida it was shown that rations for pre-weaned dairy heifers should contain 15 to 16% crude protein (Harris and Shearer undated). Palczynski et al. (2020) reported a slightly higher CP% compared to the current study diets. The ash content of the NEW calf starter meal (5.45%) is comparable to findings reported by Quigley and Bernard (2022).

The NEW diet feed intake was variable compared to the other diets; it was lower than that of SBL and VAN, higher than that of Derust and similar to that of Deo Volente. For trial 1; (Deo volente versus NEW calf stater meal), there was no significant differences between dietary treatments, similar findings were also observed (Lyimo et al., 2010). Additionally, Heinrichs et al., (2005), Bhanderi et al. (2014) and Diaz et al., (2001) reported no significant differences in feed intake of concentrate mixtures and calf starter meals fed to dairy calves. Bittar et al. (2020) observed a feed intake of 0.65kg/day which is similar to our on-station findings of 0.60kg/day. Rivas (2016) reported findings of 0.81kg of daily feed intake which is comparable to the NEW diet daily feed intake during trial 1 (0.86/day).

At the beginning of the studies of both on-station and on-farm, the mean initial weights of the calves were similar. Some previous studies (Brown et al., 2005; David., 2017; Toth et al., 2019) also reported non-significance differences on initial body weights of calves used in experiments of feeding different calf starter meals. Winarti and Widyastuti (2016), David., 2017 and Toth et al. (2019) reported non-significance differences in final weights of studied calves, findings similar to our observations. Despite attaining lower weights than SBL, calves fed NEW calf starter meal had final weights within the ranges reported by Winarti and Widyastuti (2016). Generally, the growth rates recorded during the present study on both on-station and on-farm trials agree with previous studies for pre-weaned dairy calves (Pempek et al., 2016; Berends et al., 2020; Hu et al., 2020; Gibson et al., 2022). The calves grew and met the target weights at the required timelines. Optimum level of nutrition in early life of calves favors faster growth. Calves need to be raised and meet optimum gain in body weights so as to attain about 75 to 80% of the targeted weaning weight. Poor nutrition of young dairy calves may lead to subsequent poor productive or loss of production life (Bach et al., 2014; Bhanderi et al., 2014). Van De Stroet et al. (2016) pointed out that pre-weaning growth rates are an important factor impacting on the cow’s future milk production.

Except for trial 2 where no significant different was noted, the mean FCR for the NEW diet was observed to be significantly lower than the other diets. Generally, this means that calves fed the NEW calf starter consumed less or equal amounts of feed to attain a kilogram body weight gain than calves fed the other diets. Hence, the NEW calf starter meal has a better utilization efficiency than the other diets.

Dairy farming in Botswana is still at its infancy; feeds and feeding still present some complexities amongst farmers in the country. The feeding is focused mostly on cows in production and neglecting the growing young ones e.g., calves. This is so because priority is given to the producing cows for economic reasons. In instances calf starter meals are available, they are expensive and of low quality and these situations require thorough economic balances in a dairy establishment. However, the effective utilization of available feed resources is the key for economical livestock rearing (Beigh et al. 2017). The cost of feed per kg body weight gain for a calf fed the NEW diet was found to be lower compared to other diets. Bhanderi et al. (2014) reported the total cost for a calf starter meal was higher than that of a traditional concentrate mixture, but the differences were not significant. Most studies (Akins et al., 2017; Gadzama, 2017; Heinrichs and Arnold, 2017; Ishag, 2020) indicated that understanding the cost of raising dairy calves is vital and significant. Calculating the costs associated with raising dairy calves is an essential part of dairy business management.

The current study demonstrated that the feed consumption of the NEW diet varied in different trials. Calves fed the NEW diet had a better feed conversion ratio compared to the other diets. The calves’ performance with respect to live weight and body weight gain was comparable across the experimental diets. The NEW diet had a lower cost per body weight gain of a calf when compared to the other diets. In conclusion, the NEW calf starter meal compared relatively well with the other commercial diets used by dairy farmers. This diet is primarily made of locally available feed resources hence cheaper, and it can be used by dairy farmers to feed dairy calves.

All authors have made considerable contributions to this work that qualifies them to be included as authors in this work. However, this is how they contributed;

DM and BKG conceived and designed the research. UT, OB, DM and BKG collected the data. DMP, IMI, DM and BKG analyzed the data. BKG, DM, DMP and OB writing the paper.

Acknowledgements: The authors acknowledge that this work is original and that no part of or complete content of this has been published in any other journal.

Funding: This work received funding from the Government of Botswana through the Department of Agricultural Research, Ministry of Agriculture, Sebele, Botswana.

Compliance with ethical standards:

Conflict of interest: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Informed consent: All authors have given their consent that this work is valid and represent their views of the study, and all authors have given their consent for this work to be published.

Statement of animal rights: This work did not involve the use of animal for laboratory studies. There is no violation of animal right.

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Evaluation of calf starter meals for raising dairy calves in Botswana

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Abstract

Introduction

Materials And Methods

Study sites

Calf starter meals

Study design

On-station trial

On-farm trials

Data collection

Statistical analysis

Economic Evaluation

Results

Compositional quality

Feed intakes

Body weight gains

Feed conversion ratios

Economic evaluation

Farmer’s perceptions

Discussion

Declarations

References

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