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Mehdi Mirzaei

Mehdi Mirzaei

Academic rank: Assistant Professor
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1445-2986
Education: PhD.
ScopusId: 57004439300
HIndex:
Faculty: Agriculture and Environment
Address: Arak University
Phone:

Research

Title
Reciprocal combinations of alfalfa hay and corn silage in the starter diets of Holstein dairy calves: effects on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, rumen fermentation and selected blood metabolites
Type
JournalPaper
Keywords
feed efficiency, forage, frame size, moisture, weight gain
Year
2019
Journal ANIMAL
DOI
Researchers Meysam Kanani ، Shahriar Kargar ، Mohammad Javad Zamiri ، Seyed Mehdi Ghoreishi ، Mehdi Mirzaei

Abstract

Adding corn silage ( CS ) instead of alfalfa hay ( AH ) to the finely ground starter diet would improve calf performance if feed intake or feed efficiency is increased. We investigated the effects of replacing AH with CS in the starter diet on nutrient intake, digestibility, growth performance, rumen fermentation and selected blood metabolites in Holstein calves. Newborn male calves ( n =30; 3 days of age; 40.2±1.28kg BW) were assigned randomly to three groups receiving starter diets containing chopped AH (10% dry matter ( DM ) basis; AH diet), CS (10% DM, CS diet) or their combination (each at 5% level; AHCS diet). The starter diets had the same nutrient composition but differed in DM content (91.2%, 87.5% and 83.8% for AH, AHCS and CS, respectively). The calves were weaned on day 50, and the study continued until day 70. Nutrient intake, BW (at weaning and at the end of the study) and body measurements were not affected by the diet. During the post-weaning period, average daily gain tended to be greater on CS than on AH diet. Feed efficiency was greater in CS than in AH or AHCS calves during the postweaning period. Digestibility of neutral detergent fiber was greater in AHCS and CS compared with AH during the post-weaning period. Concentration and profile of volatile fatty acids and ruminal fluid pH were not affected by the diet. Replacing AH with CS in the starter diet had no effect on feed intake, growth performance and general health of the calves. These results indicate that AH and CS can be used interchangeably in dairy calf starter diets until 70 days of age, allowing dairy producers more choices in selecting the feed ingredients.