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Influence of Ration and Rumen Inoculation on the Growth of Dairy Calves^{1, 2,}

Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Blacksburg

ABSTRACT

The dairyman is vitally interested in a calf-raising system which will give acceptable results and at the same time be economical and simple to follow. If the introduction of roughage into the calf's ration at an early age results in early development of the reticulo-rumen, this would conceivably effect substantial savings because it would be possible to raise herd replacements with a minimum amount of costly concentrates and liberal quantities of good forage. The evidence indicates that high roughage rations can be used advantageously in raising dairy calves (5, 6, 7, 9, 10) and that it is possible to encourage the utilization of forage at an early age by introducing into the calf rumen microorganisms obtained from mature, healthy animals (3, 4, 17, 18, 19). Unfortunately, there is little information in the latter reports concerning the effect of rumen inoculations on growth rate in young calves. Several workers (1, 11, 16) have reported no increase in growth rate from rumen inoculations.

¹ Contribution from the Department of Dairy Science.

² Data presented are based on a thesis submitted by G. A. Miller to the Graduate Faculty of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a Master of Science Degree.

³ Present address: Field Representative, Virginia Artificial Breeding Association, Inc., Rocky Mount, Virginia.