Ganancia de peso vivo en terneras lactantes girolandas, utilizando lactancia artificial y suplementación (balanceado).

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the live weight gain of Girolando breed lactating calves, raised under a feeding system using artificial lactation and supplementation with balanced feed. Fifteen Girolando calves were randomly selected, transferred to the pen, and dewormed. The experimental design was a completely randomized block design with observations over time, consisting of three treatments with five repetitions each. Tukey's test at 5% confidence was used for mean comparison. The treatments were: T1 (Sprayfo Milk Replacer), T2 (Whole Milk), and T3 (Mixture of Sprayfo Milk Replacer and Whole Milk). Regarding total weight gain, significant statistical differences were observed (p = 0.00362). The whole milk treatment (T2) reported the highest average, with a total live weight gain of 79.9 ± 3.8 kg. This treatment showed a constant upward trend in the growth curve, with a significant increase in live weight as the weeks progressed, and it also presented higher contents of fat (3.62%) and protein (3.45%). It was concluded that the calves fed with whole milk presented a higher live weight gain, reaching 0.81 kg/day. These results demonstrate that the whole milk treatment is more effective for the growth of Girolando calves compared to artificial lactation and the mixture of whole milk and milk replacer.