Twenty four Jersey calves were randomly blocked according to sex and birth date, to
determine the effects of supplementing Carica papaya seed (Linn) meal (CPSM) on
health and growth performance of calves. In the first study, calves were fed CPSM for
only 2 days to determine faecal pathogen population. In the second study; calves were
randomly assigned at birth to three treatments and fed until weaning at 42 days. Each
treatment had six calves. Treatments were; 1) a control group, which did not receive
additive; 2) a group that was supplemented 5 g/d of Carica papaya seed meal (CPSM)
and 3) the last group that was supplemented 5 g/d of a commercial product containing
Lactobacillus acidophilus (Lact). After receiving milk with colostrum from their dams
for 3 consecutive days after birth, calves had commercial starter pellet and fresh water
ad lib. Treatments were added to whole milk from day 4 and fed to calves before being
allowed to suckle from the dams for 30 min three times a day (08:00; 12:00 and 17:00).
Calf starter dry matter intake (DMI) was evaluated daily while body weight (BW) and
body structural growth were measured weekly. Faecal samples were collected directly
from the rectum on day 7 and 10, before and after receiving CPSM respectively. The
DMI; DMI/BW; BW and BWG of calves did not differ among treatments, and averaged
305.4 g/d; 7.7 g/d per BW; 39.4 kg and 32.1 kg, respectively. The initial BW, 22.2 ±
1.49 kg did not differ among groups, but the weaning BW was higher (p<0.05) for
CPSM fed calves compared to control diet fed calves. It did not differ between control
and Lact calves. Calves in Lact and CPSM treatments had similar average daily gain
(ADG) and heart girth (HG), which were higher (p<0.05) than calves fed the control
treatment. Calves fed CPSM had higher (p<0.05) hip width (HW) and shoulder height
(SH) than control calves. There were effects of time (p<0.001) for starter DMI/BW,
ADG and all structural body parameters, and effects (p<0.05) of interaction between
time and treatments for only starter DMI/BW, ADG and HG. The CPSM treatment
reduced faecal coliforms and E. coli (p<0.05) by 93.6% and 96.1%, respectively; and
tended to reduce Enterobacteriaceae (p=0.056) by 96.4%. The present study revealed
that feeding CPSM to calves during the pre-weaning period increased growth
performance by improving average daily gain, feed efficiency and enhancing health
status due to low faecal pathogen count / Agriculture, Animal Health and Human Ecology / M. Sc. (Agriculture)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:unisa/oai:uir.unisa.ac.za:10500/24989 |
| Date | 01 1900 |
| Creators | Makoya, Rudzani Prescious |
| Contributors | Mbatha, K. R., Muya, M. C. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
| Format | 1 online resource (ix, 58 leaves) : color illustrations, graphs (some color) |
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