Effects of castration and eucalyptus oil supplementation on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and blood-immunity indicators of male Holstein calves
ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of early castration and eucalyptus oil (EUC) supplementation on dry matter intake (DMI), growth performance, and immune response of Holstein calves. Fifty-six male Holstein calves 52 d old and with an initial body weight (BW) of 63.5...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2024-05-01
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| Series: | Journal of Dairy Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022030223008020 |
| _version_ | 1827277907587760128 |
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| author | Dechao Nie Shutian Liu Weixuan Tang Chen Zhao Yan Zhang Yan Li Mengzhe Liu Niantao Ou Ning Shi Wenzhu Yang Yanling Li |
| author_facet | Dechao Nie Shutian Liu Weixuan Tang Chen Zhao Yan Zhang Yan Li Mengzhe Liu Niantao Ou Ning Shi Wenzhu Yang Yanling Li |
| author_sort | Dechao Nie |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of early castration and eucalyptus oil (EUC) supplementation on dry matter intake (DMI), growth performance, and immune response of Holstein calves. Fifty-six male Holstein calves 52 d old and with an initial body weight (BW) of 63.5 ± 5.27 kg were used. The animals were blocked by BW and randomly assigned into 1 of the 4 treatment groups in a randomized complete block design with a 2 (no castration vs. castration) × 2 (without vs. with EUC) factorial arrangement of treatments. The treatments were (1) uncastrated calves fed without EUC, (2) uncastrated calves fed 0.5 g/d EUC (EUC group), (3) castrated calves (steers) fed without EUC (castrated group), and (4) steers fed with 0.5 g/d EUC (castrated + EUC). The experiment was 8 wk long, including pre- and postweaning (weaned at 72 d). The EUC × castrated interactions were not significant for DMI, growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and immune response. Castration did not affect the DMI, final BW, average daily gain (ADG), or feed efficiency, except that the ADG was greater for bull calves than for steers at postweaning. Supplementation with EUC increased DMI pre- and postweaning and increased the ADG of weaned calves. Digestibility in the total digestive tract was not affected by castration (except for organic matter digestibility), whereas adding EUC improved the digestibility of dry matter, acid detergent fiber, and crude protein. Blood concentration of IL-6 at d 94 was decreased by feeding EUC. These results indicate that the EUC could be fed to either intact or castrated dairy calves to promote growth and health postweaning; castration before weaning may reduce ADG and cause inflammatory stress without affecting feed intake or feed efficiency. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T07:44:15Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-12e2e23aa9824212be5b20ffe30f5b3b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0022-0302 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T07:44:15Z |
| publishDate | 2024-05-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Dairy Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-12e2e23aa9824212be5b20ffe30f5b3b2024-04-19T04:16:11ZengElsevierJournal of Dairy Science0022-03022024-05-01107528502863Effects of castration and eucalyptus oil supplementation on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and blood-immunity indicators of male Holstein calvesDechao Nie0Shutian Liu1Weixuan Tang2Chen Zhao3Yan Zhang4Yan Li5Mengzhe Liu6Niantao Ou7Ning Shi8Wenzhu Yang9Yanling Li10Animal Science and Technology College, Beijing University of Agriculture, Changping, Beijing 102206, ChinaAnimal Science and Technology College, Beijing University of Agriculture, Changping, Beijing 102206, ChinaAnimal Science and Technology College, Beijing University of Agriculture, Changping, Beijing 102206, ChinaAnimal Science and Technology College, Beijing University of Agriculture, Changping, Beijing 102206, ChinaAnimal Science and Technology College, Beijing University of Agriculture, Changping, Beijing 102206, ChinaAnimal Science and Technology College, Beijing University of Agriculture, Changping, Beijing 102206, ChinaAnimal Science and Technology College, Beijing University of Agriculture, Changping, Beijing 102206, ChinaAnimal Science and Technology College, Beijing University of Agriculture, Changping, Beijing 102206, ChinaAnimal Science and Technology College, Beijing University of Agriculture, Changping, Beijing 102206, ChinaAgriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Lethbridge Research and Development Centre, Lethbridge, AB, T1J 4B1, CanadaAnimal Science and Technology College, Beijing University of Agriculture, Changping, Beijing 102206, China; Corresponding authorABSTRACT: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of early castration and eucalyptus oil (EUC) supplementation on dry matter intake (DMI), growth performance, and immune response of Holstein calves. Fifty-six male Holstein calves 52 d old and with an initial body weight (BW) of 63.5 ± 5.27 kg were used. The animals were blocked by BW and randomly assigned into 1 of the 4 treatment groups in a randomized complete block design with a 2 (no castration vs. castration) × 2 (without vs. with EUC) factorial arrangement of treatments. The treatments were (1) uncastrated calves fed without EUC, (2) uncastrated calves fed 0.5 g/d EUC (EUC group), (3) castrated calves (steers) fed without EUC (castrated group), and (4) steers fed with 0.5 g/d EUC (castrated + EUC). The experiment was 8 wk long, including pre- and postweaning (weaned at 72 d). The EUC × castrated interactions were not significant for DMI, growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and immune response. Castration did not affect the DMI, final BW, average daily gain (ADG), or feed efficiency, except that the ADG was greater for bull calves than for steers at postweaning. Supplementation with EUC increased DMI pre- and postweaning and increased the ADG of weaned calves. Digestibility in the total digestive tract was not affected by castration (except for organic matter digestibility), whereas adding EUC improved the digestibility of dry matter, acid detergent fiber, and crude protein. Blood concentration of IL-6 at d 94 was decreased by feeding EUC. These results indicate that the EUC could be fed to either intact or castrated dairy calves to promote growth and health postweaning; castration before weaning may reduce ADG and cause inflammatory stress without affecting feed intake or feed efficiency.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022030223008020eucalyptus oilgrowth performanceimmunity indicatorsHolstein calves |
| spellingShingle | Dechao Nie Shutian Liu Weixuan Tang Chen Zhao Yan Zhang Yan Li Mengzhe Liu Niantao Ou Ning Shi Wenzhu Yang Yanling Li Effects of castration and eucalyptus oil supplementation on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and blood-immunity indicators of male Holstein calves Journal of Dairy Science eucalyptus oil growth performance immunity indicators Holstein calves |
| title | Effects of castration and eucalyptus oil supplementation on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and blood-immunity indicators of male Holstein calves |
| title_full | Effects of castration and eucalyptus oil supplementation on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and blood-immunity indicators of male Holstein calves |
| title_fullStr | Effects of castration and eucalyptus oil supplementation on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and blood-immunity indicators of male Holstein calves |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effects of castration and eucalyptus oil supplementation on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and blood-immunity indicators of male Holstein calves |
| title_short | Effects of castration and eucalyptus oil supplementation on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and blood-immunity indicators of male Holstein calves |
| title_sort | effects of castration and eucalyptus oil supplementation on growth performance nutrient digestibility and blood immunity indicators of male holstein calves |
| topic | eucalyptus oil growth performance immunity indicators Holstein calves |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022030223008020 |
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