What did we want to know?
Intensive milk feeding in the first weeks of life promotes weight development in calves through higher nutrient intake (DLG, 2011; Frieten et al., 2017). For this reason, ad libitum feeding with free access to milk has become widely established.
Daily milk intake can provide important indicators of health status. It is recorded via automatic feeders or based on drinking behavior and residual quantities in bucket feeders.
The following study examined the extent to which individual milk intake fluctuates from day to day and what differences emerge between ad libitum feeding and a semi-restrictive feeding regimen.
Testing protocol:
- Dairy farm in Upper Austria
- Divided into a control and experimental group (n = 5 each; 3 ♂, 2 ♀)
- Control group "semi-restrictive" fed two meals daily
- Experimental group "ad libitum" with 3× daily up to 7 L milk and continuous milk availability
- Days 1–7: colostrum or transition milk for free intake
- Days 7–42: calf milk replacer (BEWI®-MILK AM 9) at 140 g/L; followed by start of weaning phase
- Data collection: weekly recording of live weight and daily recording of milk quantities
- Water, hay, and calf TMR were available for free intake throughout the trial
Results at a glance
1.
Week
High milk intake
All calves already consumed approximately 9 L of milk per day.
2.
Week
Lower gains with restricted feeding
The reduction to 6 L of milk per day resulted in lower live weight gains in the semi-restrictively fed calves.
2.-6.
Week
More milk with ad libitum
The ad libitum group consumed approximately 10% more milk overall than the semi-restrictive group.
from week 3
onward
Comparable gains
Despite higher milk and nutrient intake with ad libitum feeding, the daily gains of both groups were comparable.
Variation in daily milk intake of calves in the “ad libitum” group
Live weight gain of calves
What does this mean for your farm?
Calves can consume high quantities of milk and utilize it for growth. However, with ad libitum feeding, daily intake fluctuates considerably. Lower milk consumption is therefore not automatically a reliable warning sign of illness.
For practical application, the trial shows: Semi-restrictive feeding can also enable high daily gains and adequate nutrition. The key is not to limit milk quantity too severely. With controlled satiation feeding, calves are fed to near-satiety and can realize their growth potential in the first weeks of life.
Practical tip: With ad libitum feeding, clean feeding buckets daily and discard residual milk for hygienic reasons.
