How Important Is Rumen Development?
Mark Engstrom, Ph.D. Weaning (conversion from pre-ruminant to ruminant) is an important milestone in calves from birth to 300 lb, and the process of weaning and rumen development has been highly researched and characterized. Various strategies have been used to speed up the process including: increased scratch factor, added VFA’s, supplemental bacteria, altered feeding schedules, additional nutrient sources, and particle size changes. Frankly cases of inadequate rumen development are uncommon, and most researchers assume that the rumen will develop inevitably in response to dry feed intake, the timing is fairly elastic, and the process can either be advanced through early weaning or delayed. Full Text Quality assessments of waste milk at a calf ranch D. A. Moore, J. Taylor, M. L. Hartman,and W. M. Sischo The quality of waste milk can be highly variable. The most important finding of this investigation was the low Total Solids percentage of the dairy waste milk being fed to neonatal cal
