UC Davis

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of dietary supplementation with bacteriophage and β-mannanase on health and growth performance in calves. Thirty-six pre-weaning male Holstein calves were randomly allocated to one of four dietary treatments with a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement: no supplementation, 0.1% β-mannanase, 0.1% bacteriophage, and both 0.1% bacteriophage and 0.1% β-mannanase supplementation in a starter on a dry matter basis. The experiment lasted from 2 weeks before weaning to 8 weeks after weaning. Twenty-two calves survived to the end of the experiment. No interaction was observed between the two different feed additives. The bacteriophage supplementation tended to increase the odds ratio of survival (p = 0.09). The number of Escherichia coli in feces significantly decreased by bacteriophage supplementation one week after weaning. β-mannanase supplementation increased the concentrate intake (p < 0.01) and tended to increase the final BW (p = 0.08). Analysis of repeated measures indicated β-mannanase supplementation increased weekly body weight gain (p = 0.018). We conclude that bacteriophage supplementation may have a positive effect on calf survival rate, while β-mannanase supplementation may increase the growth rate and starter intake by calves just before and after weaning.