Performance of Holstein-Friesian calves drinking desalinated water in the preweaning period

Abstract

Background: High salinity of drinking water can adversely affect health and productive performance of calves during artificial rearing. Objective: To evaluate the effect of drinking water total dissolved salts (TDS) content on productive performance of Holstein-Friesian calves during artificial rearing. Methods: Twenty-nine newborn Holstein-Friesian calves weighing 39±0.94 kg at birth were randomly assigned to two treatment groups for 56 d. Treatment 1 (n=14) consisted of drinking water with 1,469±75 mg L-1 TDS, while treatment 2 (n=15) used drinking water from the same source but filtered by reverse osmosis to contain 107±31 mg L-1 TDS. Results: Water intake was numerically affected by TDS concentration, increasing 13% (p>0.08) when drinking low-TDS water (3,554 versus 3,088 ml d-1). Feed intake (dry basis) decreased 26% (500 versus 676 g d-1; p0.05) by TDS content in the drinking water. Conclusion: Desalinated water improves productive performance of Holstein-Friesian calves during artificial rearing.

Keywords

• artificial nursing
• desalinated water
• holstein-friesian calves
• nutrients digestibility
• reverse osmosis
• total dissolved salts
• water intake
• water quality