The Influence of Feeding with Colostrum and Colostrum Replacer on Major Blood Biomarkers and Growth Performance in Dairy Calves.

ABSTRACT: Bovine colostrum (BC) is the first milk produced by lactating cows after parturition. BC is rich in various amino acids, proteins, and fats essential for the nutrition of the neonate calves. Despite the evident beneficial effect of BC on calves, the effect of BC on blood biomarkers is poorly understood. Calves that received BC showed significantly higher body mass at days 7 and 30 (38.54 kg and 43.42 kg, respectively) compared to the colostrum replacer group (p = 0.0064). BC induced greater quantities of blood neutrophils (0.27 × 10⁹/L) and monocytes (4.76 × 10⁹/L) in comparison to the colostrum replacer (0.08 and 0.06 × 10⁹/L, respectively) (p = 0.0001). Animals that received BC showed higher levels of total serum protein (59.16 g/L) and albu

SUBMITTER: Grigaleviciute R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9965887 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature