Abstract #T248

# T248
Effect of a prebiotic and essential oil based feed additive on the health and performance of dairy calves housed on Central Texas calf ranches.
Devan M. Paulus Compart*1, Christie M. Underwood2, Bethany L. Trainer2, Peter Karnezos1, Tara R. Liska1, 1PMI Nutritional Additives, Arden Hills, MN, 2Purina Animal Nutrition, Arden Hills, MN.

A meta-analysis was conducted on 405 Holstein, Jersey, and Jersey-Holstein crossbred calves from 5 studies across 4 Central Texas calf ranches to evaluate the efficacy of a prebiotic and essential oil based feed additive on calf performance, morbidity, and mortality. Two hundred and one calves were fed a control diet (CON) based on each farm’s standard operating procedure. The control diet consisted of 2 to 3 quarts of whole milk offered 2–3 times daily and the addition of supplements or antibiotics in the milk varied by location. Two hundred and four calves were fed 2 to 3 quarts of whole milk offered 2 yo 3 times daily with the addition of Surmount Feed Additive (PMI Nutritional Additives, Arden Hills, MN) added at a rate of 10 g per head per day (TRT). Data collected in each of the 5 studies included girth length, hip height, body weight, fecal scores, nasal scores, eye scores, and mortality. Total number of calves treated for health issues and total number of health treatments per calf (treatment days) were recorded in 4 of the studies. Data collection period lengths varied by farm and ranged from 4 to 10 weeks with initial data being collected upon calf arrival at its respective ranch at about 3 d of age. The MIXED procedure, FREQ procedure, and a Z-test of SAS 9.4 (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC) were used to identify differences between treatment groups. Performance values did not differ between calves on the CON versus TRT diet. No signifcant day by treatment effects were found for any performance parameters. Number of calves treated for health issues did not differ between treatment groups (P = 0.56), nor did number of treatment days (P = 0.58). Fecal and eye score values were treatment dependent (P < 0.01) with TRT calves having improved scores relative to CON calves. Calf mortality tended to be lower (P-value = 0.07) for TRT calves (10.2 and 5.9% for CON and TRT respectively). Overall, Surmount Feed Additive may be an effective tool for reducing morbidity and mortality on commercial calf ranches.

Key Words: feed additive, prebiotic, essential oil