The effect of different levels of protected sodium butyrate on feed intake, growth performance and some blood parameters in Holstein dairy calves

پژوهشهای علوم دامی ایران

Article 6, Volume 17, Issue 3 - Serial Number 63, September 2025, Pages 307-322   

Document Type: Research Articles

DOI: 10.22067/ijasr.2025.92885.1245

Authors

Hamidreza Khajavi^{* 1, 2}; Saeed Sobhani Rad^{3, 2}; Mohammad Taghavi²; Hadi Ghorbani PharmD²; Masoud Ainechian²

¹Department of Animal Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran

²Razavi Industrial Animal Husbandry and Dairy Company, Mashhad, Iran

³Department of Agricultural Science, Ma.C., Islamic Azad University, Mashhad, Iran

Abstract

Introduction: Whole milk is a highly digestible food for calves. Calves receive 10 to 12 percent of their body weight in milk daily. Therefore, the lactation period is the foundation for the health and proper growth of calves. Adequate growth in proportion to the genetic potential of the animal can reduce the age of puberty of calves and the slaughter age of male calves. The high price of milk, long-term feeding of calves with milk or milk replacer is not economically viable for the farmer, and the cost of a growing replacement heifer is still high. Advanced management allows for earlier weaning, as it reduces the cost of raising replacement animals. Strong heifers with proper growth after weaning can be introduced into the herd earlier (Naserian, 2005). Therefore, the rumen should be activated as soon as possible and with appropriate feeding programs to allow for early weaning of calves. The development of the digestive tract of suckling calves affects feed intake, digestion efficiency and resistance to digestive disorders and consequently their growth and health, any method that enhances these processes is highly desirable. In newborn calves in the first weeks of life, it is expected that most of the supplemented butyrate in a protected form will pass through the rumen and abomasum and be delivered to the small intestine, where it has a local effect on the intestinal epithelium. In general, the recommended level of butyrate supplementation in calf feed is low or very low. The use of protected butyrate in starter at a level of 0.3% of dry matter is recommended because it is sufficient to have a stimulating effect on the growth of the digestive tract and improve growth performance. Therefore, the present study was conducted to investigate the effect of different levels of preserved sodium butyrate on feed intake, growth performance, blood parameters, oxidative stress parameters, and skeletal traits in suckling Holstein calves.
Materials and Methods: This experiment was conducted using 42 male calves with an average weight of 44 kg in a completely randomized design with three treatments (including levels of 0, 0.25, and 0.5% preserved sodium butyrate) and 14 replications in each treatment. Health and breeding management were applied according to common standards. The duration of the experimental period was 70 days and was considered until weaning. The performance of the calves was measured by weighing their body weight at the beginning of the period and weekly. Feed and water were provided to the animals ad libitum, and the amount of feed and the remaining feed were collected and weighed the next day. Finally, the dry matter intake was measured based on the amount of feed consumed and the body weight gain obtained in different treatments. The measured traits included dry matter intake, average body weight gain, feed conversion ratio, blood parameters, oxidative stress parameters, and skeletal traits.
Result and Discussion: The effects of experimental treatments on dry matter intake, average body weight gain, and average feed conversion ratio on body weight of suckling calves as performance indicators were not significant. At 25 days of rearing, different levels of protected sodium butyrate supplementation had no significant effect on total protein and cholesterol. However, significant effects were observed on albumin, glucose, triglycerides, urea, and beta-hydroxybutyrate. The effect of different levels of protected sodium butyrate supplementation on serum alanine aminotransferase enzyme was not significant on day 25 of the rearing period. The effect of different levels of protected sodium butyrate supplementation on liver enzymes including aspartate aminotransferase, antioxidant capacity and malondialdehyde was significant on day 25 of the rearing period. The effect of different levels of protected sodium butyrate supplementation on aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase and serum antioxidant capacity was not significant on day 50 of the rearing period. The effect of different levels of protected sodium butyrate supplementation on malondialdehyde, total protein, triglyceride and urea was significant on day 50 of the rearing period. The effect of different levels of protected sodium butyrate supplementation on body length and hip height in suckling calves was significant at the end of the weaning period. Also, the effect of different levels of protected sodium butyrate supplementation on chest circumference, withers height, pin width, and hip width in suckling calves at the end of the weaning period was not significant.
 
Conclusion: In general, these findings indicate that protected sodium butyrate not only affects energy metabolism (through increased beta-hydroxybutyrate), but also plays a protective role in liver health by improving blood parameters such as total protein and reducing oxidative stress (decreased MDA and increased TAC). The use of protected sodium butyrate supplementation, particularly at the 0.5% level, can be recommended as an effective strategy to enhance metabolic health and reduce oxidative damage in suckling calves.

Keywords

Beta-hydroxybutyrate; Calves; Oxidative stress; Total antioxidant capacity

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