Effect of Injectable or Oral Trace Mineral Supplementation on Beef Calf Health Status and Growth

Abstract

Nicolas Herman, Agnes Batard, Sebastien Geollot, Thibault Devambez and Luc Durel

This study compared the relative effect of two trace mineral supplementation strategies currently recommended in France for newborn beef calves. Six hundred calves from 12 cow-calf farms were assigned to 20 mg oral selenium (Se) supplementation at birth (D0) in the oral trace mineral group (OTM) group or to subcutaneous administrations at the dose of 1 ml a multi-mineral solution (60 mg of Zn, 10 mg of Mn, 15 mg of Cu, 5 mg of Se) at D0 and D30 and of 2 ml at D60 in the injectable trace mineral (ITM) group. Passive immune transfer was evaluated by refractometry (°Brix and serum total proteins) for each calf during the first week after birth. Body weight gain at 4 (BWG1) and 7 (BWG2) months of age, mortality and the incidence rate of diseases, including diarrhea, omphalitis, pneumonia, as well as medicinal treatments, were recorded from D0 to D210. A morbidity rate related to the most common con- ditions (MR1 - diarrhea, pneumonia, and omphalitis) and a second index related to all recorded health incidents (MR2) were calculated. The mean °Bx and STP were not significantly different between OTM and ITM groups (9.1vs. 9.2°Bx, and 58.3 vs. 59.0g/L, respectively) and correlated significantly in both groups (P<0.01). °Bx significantly related to the incidence of diarrhea, death, and antibiotic administration in the OTM group (P<0.05) and the ITM group (P<0.01). The incidence rate of omphalitis was significantly lower in the ITM group than in the OTM group (respectively 11% vs. 17%, P = 0.036). Considering all conditions together, MR2 was significantly lower in the ITM group than in the OTM group (P=0.007). Except for pneumonia (12% vs. 13%), incidence of diarrhea (24% vs. 22%), use of oral (7% vs. 6%) or IV rehydration therapy (4% vs. 2%) or use of antibiotics (43.3% vs. 37.7%), additional medications (43.3% vs. 38.0%) and mortality (3% vs 2%) were numerically higher in OTM group than in ITM group (n.s.). BWG1 (929.1 vs. 943.6g/days) and BWG2 (1052.7 vs. 1048.9g/days) were not significantly different between OTM and ITM groups, respectively. In this study, ITM supplementation is at least as efficient as oral supplementation regarding calves' health status and growth. It reduces the risk of omphalitis at the calf level effectively.

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