Study on Production of White Veal with Holstein Bull Calves Fed on Different Milk Replacer and Feeding Methods

The objective of this experiment was to study the effects of production of white veal with Holstein bull calves fed on the liquid milk replacer (containing mainly dairy products) feeding and the dry milk replacer (containing mainly plant diet, etc)feeding.20 healthy male calves with similar birth date and body weight were selected, and randomly divided into two groups (10 calves per group), for a period of 120 d white beef production fattening test.GroupⅠfed with milk replacer (commercial, 22% CP, 16% EE), groupⅡ fed with milk replacer (formulated, 22% CP, 16 MJ/kg DE).The results showed as follows:① 0 to 90 d ADG of group Ⅱ were higher than groupⅠ, 91 to 120 d ADG of group Ⅱ were significantly lower than groupⅠ (P< 0.05), but there were no significant differences in 0 to 120 d ADG and 120 d weight between two groups (P> 0.05).② There were no significant differences in the nutrient apparent digestibility of Holstein bull calves with different milk replacer and feeding methods (P> 0.05).③ Carcass weight, dressing percentage and eye muscle area of groupⅠcalves were significantly higher than those of group Ⅱ (P< 0.05), increased by 11.88%, 11.04% and 8.12%, respectively, but there was no significant difference in carcass meat production rate between two groups (P> 0.05).There was no significant differences in pH, shear force, cooking lose and meat color of longissimus between two groups (P> 0.05), but compared with group Ⅱ, the water lose rate of groupⅠincreased by 20.83% (P< 0.01).The content of EE of groupⅠwas significantly higher than group Ⅱ (P< 0.01), but there were no significant differences in the contents of moisture, CP, Ash, Ca, P and Fe of longissimus between two groups (P> 0.05).④Compared with groupⅠ, the feed cost of group Ⅱ was reduced by 45.38%.In summary, the growth performance and meat quality of two groups calves were similar, feeding cost was reduced significantly.