The effect of pectin, peri and probiotic on growth performance and blood parameters in Holstein suckling female calves

Background and objective: Microbes and their products cause positive effects on the growth, rumen, small intestine, immunity and general health of calves. Pectin oligosaccharide is a prebiotic of food origin that is obtained from food industry waste such as sugar beet pulp. Therefore, this study was conducted with the aim of investigating the effect of rumen and post-ruminal microbial improvers on the performance and metabolic characteristics of suckling Holstein calves and milk production in their first lactation period.
Materials and Methods: Three types of starter diets for suckling calves were prepared based on the recommendations of the National Research Council (2001). The rations were adjusted in such a way that they had different proportions of replacing dry sugar beet pulp instead of total barley and corn consumed ( zero, 15 and 30%). The milk consumed by calves in experimental treatments with recommended amounts of probiotic products (product of Protexin, UK) and prebiotic (Biolex MB40, a product of Lieber, Germany) was supplemented. In this research, 64 female Holstein calves (with birth weight of 38±4 kg) were used, which were randomly placed in 8 experimental treatments with repetition of 8 calves. The experimental treatments were: BP0: low-pectin starter diet containing 0% of dry sugar beet pulp replaced instead of the total barley and corn grain in diet (control group), BP0b: low-pectin starter diet supplemented with 2g of prebiotic added to calf's milk, BP0p: low pectin diet supplemented with 1g Protexin probiotic added to calf's milk, BP0bp: low pectin diet supplemented with 2g of Biolex prebiotic and 1g of Protexin probiotic, BP15: pectin intermediate starter diet (containing 15% dry sugar beet pulp), BP30: pectin rich starter diet (containing 30% of dry sugar beet pulp), BP15p: intermediate pectin starter diet supplemented with 1g of protexin probiotic, BP30p: pectin rich starter diet supplemented with 1g of protexin probiotic, In this experiment, growth characteristics (including body weight and length, heart girth, withers height, hip width, pin width), blood parameters and also milk production in 90 days of lactation of these calves after The first calving was studied.
Results: The data obtained from the experiment showed a significant difference in the entire experimental period regarding the average of dry matter intake and daily weight gain (P<0.05), so that the BP15p treatment had the highest amount with an average of 1569.4 and 837.7g per day, respectively. and the control treatment (BP0) showed the lowest values with 1120.6 and 706.3g per day, respectively. In the concentration of blood enzymes (ALT and AST), BP30p treatment showed the highest concentration with values of 32 and 11 units per liter, respectively, and the difference between experimental treatments was significant (P<0.05). The data related to milk production on the 30th, 60th and 90th days of the first lactation period of the calves used in this experiment also showed a significant difference between the experimental treatments (P<0.05) and the calves fed with BP15p treatment showed the highest amount with an average milk production of 40.61, 42.24 and 42.89 liters in 30, 60 and 90 days of lactation, respectively.
Conclusion: According to the results obtained from this research, replacing 15 to 30% of dry sugar beet pulp as a prebiotic instead of the total of barley and corn in calf starter diet can along with the use of a growth stimulant Suitable microbe (probiotic) to increase the growth performance and subsequent production performance of the calf in the first period of lactation.