# Effect of various flavors in starter diets on growth, behavior, and blood parameters of Holstein calves

## TL;DR

Adding sweet flavor to calf feed improves their eating habits, growth, and health, helping them wean earlier and use nutrients better.

## Contribution

Sodium saccharin at 0.99% DM is shown to enhance calf starter intake and growth performance more effectively than other flavor enhancers.

## Key findings

- Sodium saccharin increased dry matter intake, average daily gain, and feed efficiency in calves.
- Flavored feed led to earlier weaning and lower cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood urea nitrogen levels.
- Calves spent more time on solid feed and rumination with the sweet-flavored starter.

## Abstract

•The incorporation of sodium saccharin as a sweet flavor enhancer at 0.99% dry matter (DM) significantly increased dry matter intake (DMI), average daily gain (ADG), and feed efficiency (FE) in Holstein dairy calves.•Calves fed the flavored starter concentrate exhibited improved behavioral patterns, such as increased time spent on solid feed intake and rumination, and showed enhanced growth parameters, including body depth, wither height, and hip height.•The use of sodium saccharin in calf starter concentrates led to earlier weaning, reduced levels of cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood urea nitrogen, suggesting better nutrient utilization and potential cost savings for dairy producers.

The incorporation of sodium saccharin as a sweet flavor enhancer at 0.99% dry matter (DM) significantly increased dry matter intake (DMI), average daily gain (ADG), and feed efficiency (FE) in Holstein dairy calves.

Calves fed the flavored starter concentrate exhibited improved behavioral patterns, such as increased time spent on solid feed intake and rumination, and showed enhanced growth parameters, including body depth, wither height, and hip height.

The use of sodium saccharin in calf starter concentrates led to earlier weaning, reduced levels of cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood urea nitrogen, suggesting better nutrient utilization and potential cost savings for dairy producers.

This study investigated the effect of adding various flavors to calf starter concentrates on the performance, behavior, and blood parameters of Holstein dairy calves. The hypothesis was that an optimal flavor enhancer would increase starter intake, improve growth performance, and possibly enable earlier weaning without adverse physiological effects. In Experiment 1, a cafeteria test was conducted with 80 pre-weaned calves to evaluate four synthetic flavor enhancers (salty, sweet, sour, bitter) at levels of 3.3, 6.6, and 9.9 g/kg dry matter (DM)1, and a control without a flavor enhancer. Experiment 2 tested higher levels (9.9, 19.8, 29.7 g/kg DM) of the sweet flavor enhancer sodium saccharin in a single cafeteria test with 20 calves. Experiment 3 compared three sweet flavor enhancers (sodium saccharin, stevia, sucralose) at 9.9 g/kg DM in another cafeteria test with 20 calves. After selecting sodium saccharin at 9.9 g/kg DM as the optimal flavor enhancer, Experiment 4 was conducted with 40 calves divided into a treatment group receiving the flavored starter and a control group without flavor. In Experiment 1, sodium saccharin at 9.9 g/kg DM resulted in the highest dry matter intake (DMI)2 of 347 g/d, significantly higher than the control (173 g/d). Experiment 2 revealed a quadratic effect with DMI peaking at 9.9 g/kg DM sodium saccharin (201.0 g/d) and declining at higher levels. Experiment 3 confirmed that sodium saccharin outperformed other sweet flavor enhancers, increasing DMI to 350 g/d compared to 251 g/d for the control. In Experiment 4, calves fed the starter concentrate with 9.9 g/kg DM sodium saccharin showed significantly higher DMI (1749 g/d), average daily gain (ADG3; 730 g/d), and feed conversion ratio (FCR;4 2.05) compared to the control group (DMI 1470 g/d, ADG 650 g/d, FCR 2.36). Furthermore, calves in the flavored treatment were weaned earlier (59 days) than the control group (64 days). Behavioral observations showed that the sweet flavor treatment increased the time spent on solid feed intake, rumination, and standing behavior. Calves fed the flavored starter had lower levels of cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood urea nitrogen, suggesting improved nutrient utilization. Overall, the results demonstrated the potential benefits of incorporating sodium saccharin as a sweet flavor enhancer in calf starter concentrates, leading to improved feed intake, growth performance, feed efficiency, final body weight (FBW)5, and behavioral patterns during the critical pre-weaning and post-weaning periods.