Effect of a multi-strain-lactic-acid-bacteria-fermented-milk in young calvesâ

MALDONADO MC; CHIARAVIGLIO JM; BRU E; NADER MACÍAS ME

Londres

Conferencia; UK Probiotics Conference 2015; 2015

Royal Holloway University of London

A Multri-strain fermented milk with autochthonous lactic acid bacteria: Lactobacillus murinus CRL 1695, Lactobacillus mucosae CRL 1696, Lactobacillus johnsonii CRL 1693, and Lactobacillus salivarius CRL 1702, isolated from healthy calves in the Northeast region of Argentina and selected for their beneficial and functional characteristics was designed to prevent intestinal infections, improve and balance the intestinal microbiota of young calves from birth to weaning. The main objective of this work was to determine the influence of the fermented milk used as feed additive on the performance, incidence and duration of diarrhea, nutritional parameters, and microbial feces population (aerobic bacteria, lactic acid bacteria and enterobacteria) on calves from the weaning up to 60 days. The protocol was applied on a dairy farm located close to Tucuman in Holando-Argentina calves. Fifty eight new born animals were divided in two groups: control and experimental group, fed ad libitum with the same diet, except the administration of the fermented milk in the treated group (controls received non-fermented milk). Doses of 1x109CFU were daily administered to each calf. Body weight and biometrical parameters as height and torax width were recorded at 7, 15, 30 and 60 days of life, to calculate the daily gain rate. Also, fecal samples were individually collected by rectal stimulation for viable bacterial numbers. Results have shown the efficacy of the product as a lower morbidity and mortality of the calves from diarrhea. The incidence of diarrhea in animals fed with the fermented milk was lower than the group that did not receive probiotic: diarrhea morbidity was 64.5% in animals without probiotic and 44.4% in animals treated with probiotics. Mortality in control group was 22.6% and 11.1% in the animals fed with the ferment milk during the experiment evidenced also in an improvement of nutritional parameters, body condition and weight gain. Viable bacterial numbers did not show differences between the two experimental groups. The results suggest that the fermented milk containing lactic acid bacteria can be proposed as a multi-strain veterinary product for young calves.