Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 September 2010
Two rearing experiments were carried out to study the effect of omitting three feeds per week from an early-weaning system on the performance of 110 male calves. From the third week the calves in the experimental groups received only one feed of milk substitute on Saturdays, at 11.00 hr; on Sundays they received no milk substitute at all; from Monday to Friday they were fed twice daily. The animals in the control groups received milk substitute twice daily during the 7 days of the week, quantity per feed being the same as for the experimental groups.
The calves were weaned at 8 weeks in experiment 1 and at 5 weeks in experiment 2.
In both experiments the calves in the control group had a significantly higher daily gain than the experimental calves during the third to the fifth weeks. From 6 to 16 weeks arid for the experiment as a whole no significant difference in weight gain or feed intake were observed. The omission of three feeds per week offered considerable advantages in the saving of labour and convenience of management.