TABLE 2.
The growth performance and incidence of diarrhea in Holstein dairy calves fed with different doses of multispecies probiotics.
| Items |
Treatment (Trt)1 |
SEM | p-Value | |||
| C | T1 | T2 | T3 | Trt | ||
| Initial BW, kg | 41.12 | 42.22 | 41.44 | 41.16 | 2.65 | 0.28 |
| Final BW, kg | 82.96 | 87.16 | 89.12 | 86.98 | 2.99 | 0.10 |
| ADG, g/d | 664.29b | 815.71ab | 875a | 720b | 27.69 | 0.03 |
| Starter intake, g of DM/d | 24.20b | 29.58a | 28.66a | 30.82a | 0.67 | 0.08 |
| Total feed intake, g of DM/d | 1,241.61b | 1,306.44a | 1,295.35a | 1,321.44a | 8.1 | <0.01 |
| Feed efficiency, g of DMI/g of gain | 1.34 | 1.25 | 1.34 | 1.44 | 0.03 | 0.61 |
| Incidence of diarrhea (d 1 to d 14), % | 25.11 | 20 | 20 | 12.14 | 0.049 | 0.02 |
| Incidence of diarrhea (d 15 to d 28), % | 1.14 | 1.13 | 1.85 | – | 0.041 | 0.04 |
| Incidence of diarrhea (d 29 to d 42), % | – | 1.13 | – | – | 0.028 | 0.587 |
| Incidence of diarrhea (d 43 to d 56), % | – | – | – | – | NS | NS |
a,bThe values in the same row with different superscripts are significantly different (p < 0.05), while values with the same or no superscripts mean no significant difference (p > 0.05).1Treatments: C, no supplementation (control); T1 = 0.5 g/calf/day; T2 = 1 g/calf/day; T3 = 2 g/calf/day.ADG, average daily gain; SEM, standard error of mean.