Addition of sorbitol to a milk substitute for veal calves. I. Effects on health, growth and feed conversion

Two homologous groups of preruminant male calves (10 control and 9 sorbitol) of the Friesian X Holstein crossbreed were used to study the effects of sorbitol on appetite, health status and growth rate. Between 1 and 8 weeks of age they were given two milk replacers (IC and IS) that contained high levels of protein and fat (23% of DM), and then between 8 and 19 weeks two diets (FC and FS) containing lower levels of protein and fat (21% of DM). The IC and FC diets had no sorbitol, while in the IS and FS diets it accounted for 0.8% of DM. In each group 4 to 6 calves were used to measure milk digestibility at 3, 7 and 12 weeks of age. At slaughter (19 weeks), carcass quality and liver status were checked. The overall health status of the animals was satisfactory, but after accidental cold stress at week 7, the 10 calves of the control group had diarrhea for 2 to 5 days vs 4 calves in the sorbitol group. Sorbitol digestibility was about 95% at week 3 and almost 100% at weeks 7 and 12. Apparent energy and protein digestibilities increased in the two lots from 83.8 and 83.1, respectively, at week 3, to 89.8 and 90.7%, respectively, at week 7, but these digestibilities were not affected by sorbitol. Liveweight gain (+ 12% for the whole trial) and feed efficiency (+ 6.7% for the whole trial) were significantly (P less than 0.05) improved by the presence of sorbitol in the diet.