Abstract

Calving dairy heifers at 2 years of age at 85 to 90 % of their mature live weight and being mated at 65% of their mature live weight, has been found to increase lifetime productivity (Margerison & Downey, 2005). Recent research has focused on increasing dairy calf liveweight gain and development, while minimising body fat deposition, particularly in mammary parenchyma (Sejrsen, 2005; Brown et al., 2005), by increasing feeding levels during the prepubertal period with differing sources and levels of energy and protein, and the use of probiotics and natural plant extracts to replace antimicrobials (Hill, 2005; Tannan, 2005). The aim of this research was to ... Continued

JK, Margerison, LA Lethbridge, and GW Reynolds

Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production, Volume 68, Brisbane, Australia, 27-28, 2008