Supplementing a yeast probiotic to pre-weaning Holstein calves: Feed intake, growth and fecal biomarkers of gut health

•Efficacy of Saccharomyces cerevisiae boulardii (SCB) fed to calves was evaluated.•SCB was supplemented in milk replacer and fed to healthy pre-weaned Holstein calves.•No significant difference was observed in calf performance and health scores.•No significant difference was observed in fecal biomar...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Animal feed science and technology Vol. 226; pp. 81 - 87
Main Authors:	He, Z.X., Ferlisi, B., Eckert, E., Brown, H.E., Aguilar, A., Steele, M.A.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Netherlands Elsevier B.V 01-04-2017
Subjects:	Calf Growth Intestinal health Saccharomyces cerevisiae var boulardii xfp ADG MR Growth Calf DM STP SC SCB BW ME Saccharomyces cerevisiae var boulardii E. coli PCR Intestinal health STP, serum total protein DM, dry matter ADG, average daily gain SCB, Saccharomyces cerevisiae var boulardii E. coli, Escherichia coli MR, milk replacer SC, Saccharomyces cerevisiae PCR, polymerase chain reaction ME, metabolizable energy xfp, xylulose-5-phosphate/fructose-6-phosphate phosphoketolase BW, body weight
Online Access:	Get full text
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

Description
Summary:	•Efficacy of Saccharomyces cerevisiae boulardii (SCB) fed to calves was evaluated.•SCB was supplemented in milk replacer and fed to healthy pre-weaned Holstein calves.•No significant difference was observed in calf performance and health scores.•No significant difference was observed in fecal biomarkers of gut health.•No enteric and/or respiratory challenge was observed throughout the trial. Diarrhea, resulting from gastrointestinal infection by pathogens, is a common cause of the high mortality and morbidity of neonatal calves. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of supplementing a yeast product in milk replacer (MR) on growth and health of calves, and on fecal populations of some targeted microorganisms related to calf health and growth (i.e., total bacteria, Escherichia coli, Clostridium cluster XIVa, Faecalibacterium prausnitzii and Bifidobacterium spp.). We hypothesized that feeding a Saccharomyces cerevisiae var boulardii (SCB) product would improve gastrointestinal health and growth performance of calves. Forty-two Holstein bull calves (42.6±0.77kg at birth) were randomly assigned on day 2 of age to either a control or SCB treatment. The SCB was supplemented in MR and fed at 5g/d per head to supply 10 billion colony-forming units per day. All calves received high quality colostrum (>50mg/mL of immunoglobulin G) during the first 24h of life, and were fed with 8L MR (150g/L mixed with 40°C water) daily from day 2–35, and 4L daily from day 35–42. Calves were also fed calf starter ad libitum from day 7–56. Daily MR and starter offered and refused, daily fecal scores, nasal scores, ear scores, and weekly body weight of calves were recorded. Fecal samples were collected on day 7, 35 and 56 after the first feeding of that day for microbial targets analysis. Overall, there is no serious disease challenge for all the calves during the entire experimental period. No differences were observed in MR intake, starter intake, metabolizable energy (ME) intake, average daily gain, ME intake to gain ratio, fecal score, nasal score, eye score or any targeted microorganisms between treatments throughout the experiment. These results suggest that supplementing SCB in MR has no additive effects on animal growth or fecal biomarkers of gut health when calves do not show deteriorated health status.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	0377-8401 1873-2216 0377-8401
DOI:	10.1016/j.anifeedsci.2017.02.010