Table 2.

Feeding regimen before and during experiment.

Experi-mental Day	Age in Days	MR Powder (g/L)		Available Volume of Liquid Feed per Day (L)		Available MR Powder per Day (kg)
		Early Weaned	Late Weaned	Early Weaned	Late Weaned	Early Weaned	Late Weaned
	1–3 *	0	0	6	6	0	0
	3–5	150	150	6	6	Gradually increased from 0.3 to 0.9	Gradually increased from 0.3 to 0.9
	6 until start of experiment **	150	150	6	6	0.9	0.9
1 to 5		150	150	6	6	0.9	0.9
6 to 10		150	150	Gradually increased from 6 to 9	Gradually increased from 6 to 9	Gradually increased from 0.9 to 1.35	Gradually increased from 0.9 to 1.35
11 to 28		150	150	9	9	1.35	1.35
29 to 42		150	150	Gradually decreased from 9 to 2	9	Gradually decreased from 1.35 to 0.3	1.35
42 to 98		0	150	0	9	0	1.35
99 to 112		0	150	0	Gradually decreased from 9 to 2	0	Gradually decreased from 1.35 to 0.3
113 to 140		0	0	0	0	0	0

* 3 L of colostrum within 2 h after birth; pooled herd milk in the first three days of life. ** start of experiment at mean age of 8 ± 1.9 days, ranging from 6–12 days, one animal of earlyMC was 18 days old when entering the experiment.