Rivera-Villegas Alejandro, Carrillo-Muro Octavio, Rodríguez-Cordero Daniel, Hernández-Briano Pedro, Sánchez-Barbosa Oliver Yaotzin, Lazalde-Cruz Rosalba, Castro-Pérez Beatriz Isabel, Plascencia Alejandro
Unidad Académica de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia, Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas, General Enrique Estrada 98500, Mexico.
Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Mexicali 21100, Mexico.
Vet Sci. 2024 Jul 25;11(8):336. doi: 10.3390/vetsci11080336.
The aim of this study was to examine the impact of daily calcium propionate (CaPr) supplementation (0 or 20 g/calf) on growth performance, dietary energetics, body fat reserves, serum metabolites, and hematological responses in high-risk beef calves fed diets with varying (50, 60, or 70%) concentrate (CON) levels. In addition, a cost/income analysis of CaPr supplementation was carried out. Forty-eight crossbred bull calves (152.8 ± 1.56 kg body weight and 5.5 months of age) were involved in a fully randomized experimental design employing a 2 × 3 factorial arrangement of treatments. Calves were allocated ( = 8 per treatment) to individual pens (3.14 × 5.25 m) and were subjected to one of the following treatments during 42 d: No CaPr supplementation in diets containing 50, 60, or 70% CON (NoCaPr + 50, NoCaPr + 60, NoCaPr + 70, respectively) or daily CaPr supplementation dosed at 20 g/calf in diets containing 50, 60, or 70% CON (20CaPr + 50, 20CaPr + 60, 20CaPr + 70, respectively). Non-supplemented calves exhibited decreased dry matter intake (DMI) with increasing CON levels in their diets, while CaPr-supplemented calves displayed the opposite effect (interaction, = 0.04). In calves fed a lower-CON diet (50%), those supplemented with CaPr showed greater average daily gain (ADG, 20.2%, = 0.05) and lower DMI (2.2%, = 0.03), resulting in improved ADG/DMI ratio, dietary energy, and energy retention (24.6, 14.4, and 18%, < 0.05). These effects diminished when calves received diets with 60 or 70% CON but led to a 14.2% increase in rump fat thickness ( = 0.04). Only in non-supplemented CaPr calves, increasing the level of CON from 50 to 70% in the diet increased ADG (21.2%), decreased DMI (2.2%), and improved the ADG/DMI ratio (22.7%), with no impact on dietary net energy utilization. Non-supplemented calves exhibited an increase in lymphocytes as CON levels rose in their diets, whereas CaPr-supplemented calves showed the opposite effect (interaction, = 0.05). Supplementation of CaPr decreased total protein (TP, = 0.03) and albumin (ALB, < 0.01) serum concentrations, with lower concentrations observed in 20CaPr + 50. CaPr supplementation reduced ( = 0.01) total cholesterol (TCHO) levels. An interaction between CaPr and CON level ( = 0.02) was observed since TCHO levels remained consistently low at higher CON levels. Glucose was decreased with increasing levels of CON ( = 0.02) but not ( = 0.85) for CaPr-supplemented calves. NoCaPr + 50 and NoCaPr + 70 increased ( = 0.05) ALB concentration. Gamma glutamyltransferase levels increased ( = 0.05) with increasing CON levels irrespective of CaPr supplementation. Comparing the profit within the same CON level in the diet, CaPr treatments yielded higher income, with the largest difference in profit observed when CaPr was supplemented at 50% CON level (USD 29 more/calf). In conclusion, CaPr supplementation proves to be an effective strategy for enhancing growth performance and dietary energy among high-risk beef calves, resulting in greater economic returns. The groups that received CaPr demonstrated superior profitability, particularly in calves fed diets with lower CON levels. Under the conditions in which this experiment was carried out, the optimal response occurred when the low-CON diet (50%) was supplemented with CaPr.
本研究的目的是检验每日补充丙酸钙（CaPr）（0或20克/头犊牛）对高风险肉牛犊生长性能、日粮能量学、体脂储备、血清代谢物和血液学反应的影响，这些肉牛犊饲喂不同（50%、60%或70%）精料（CON）水平的日粮。此外，还对补充CaPr进行了成本/收益分析。48头杂交公牛犊（体重152.8±1.56千克，年龄5.5个月）参与了一项完全随机试验设计，采用2×3析因处理安排。犊牛被分配到个体栏舍（3.14×5.25米）（每个处理8头），并在42天内接受以下处理之一：在含50%、60%或70%CON的日粮中不补充CaPr（分别为NoCaPr + 50、NoCaPr + 60、NoCaPr + 70），或在含50%、60%或70%CON的日粮中每日按20克/头犊牛的剂量补充CaPr（分别为20CaPr + 50、20CaPr + 60、20CaPr + 70）。未补充CaPr的犊牛日粮中随着CON水平升高干物质采食量（DMI）下降，而补充CaPr的犊牛则表现出相反的效果（交互作用，P = 0.04）。在饲喂低CON日粮（50%）的犊牛中，补充CaPr的犊牛平均日增重（ADG）更高（20.2%，P = 0.05），DMI更低（-2.2%，P = 0.03），从而提高了ADG/DMI比值、日粮能量和能量保留（分别提高24.6%、14.4%和18%，P < 0.05）。当犊牛饲喂含60%或70%CON的日粮时，这些效果减弱，但导致臀部脂肪厚度增加14.2%（P = 0.04）。仅在未补充CaPr的犊牛中，日粮中CON水平从50%提高到70%会增加ADG（21.2%），降低DMI（-2.2%），并改善ADG/DMI比值（22.7%），对日粮净能量利用无影响。未补充CaPr的犊牛日粮中随着CON水平升高淋巴细胞增加，而补充CaPr的犊牛则表现出相反的效果（交互作用，P = 0.05）。补充CaPr降低了血清总蛋白（TP，P = 0.03）和白蛋白（ALB，P < 0.01）浓度，在20CaPr + 50组中观察到较低浓度。补充CaPr降低了（P = 0.01）总胆固醇（TCHO）水平。观察到CaPr与CON水平之间存在交互作用（P = 0.02），因为在较高CON水平下TCHO水平一直保持较低。随着CON水平升高葡萄糖降低（P = 0.02），但补充CaPr犊牛中葡萄糖不受影响（P = 0.85）。NoCaPr + 50和NoCaPr + 70组ALB浓度升高（P = 0.05）。无论是否补充CaPr，γ-谷氨酰转移酶水平都随着CON水平升高而升高（P = 0.05）。比较日粮中相同CON水平下的利润，CaPr处理产生更高的收益，在50%CON水平补充CaPr时利润差异最大（每头犊牛多29美元）。总之，补充CaPr被证明是提高高风险肉牛犊生长性能和日粮能量的有效策略，从而带来更大的经济回报。接受CaPr的组表现出更高的盈利能力，特别是在饲喂低CON日粮的犊牛中。在本实验进行的条件下，低CON日粮（50%）补充CaPr时出现最佳反应。
