239 Effect of Saccharomyces cerevisiae boulardii supplementation on the health and performance of male Holstein calves.

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of one specific strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae boulardii CNCMI-1079 (SB) on the health and performance of male dairy calves. Neonatal diarrhea is a common disease in young calves creating significant economic loss and welfare concerns for the Canadian livestock industry. Probiotics may provide a solution to this challenge as they have been shown to stimulate healthy microbiota, prevent the proliferation of enteric pathogens and improve mucosal immunity in young animals. At a commercial veal farm, a total of 84 calves were enrolled in this experiment for a total of 53 days. A control group (n = 42) was fed individually 2 times/d with milk replacer and the treatment group (n = 42) was fed with the addition of SB (10 billion colony-forming units/d) in milk replacer. No differences were observed with regards to average daily gain between the two groups (P = 0.15), however, daily health parameters were impacted. With respect to mortality, six control calves and two calves fed SB died during the experiment. A total of 67% of control calves had diarrhea and 29% experienced severe diarrhea, whereas, 50% of supplemented calves were affected by diarrhea and only 10% experienced severe diarrhea (P < 0.05). In fact, the average number of diarrhea cases (fecal score ≥ 2 for at least 2 days) was 4.3 ± 2.5 in the control group, whereas calves supplemented with SB experienced only 3.0 ± 2.3 diarrhea cases (P < 0.05). With respect to antibiotic use, 81% of the control calves were treated with antibiotics during the experiment, whereas 66% of supplemented calves were treated. This study demonstrates that, despite no improvement in calf growth, the health of the calves was improved with the addition of SB in the milk replacer.