Preweaning growth and feeding: key drivers for future milk production
In general, the performance of a heifer calf is an important indicator for her production potential and health in later life. It is assumed that higher feed intake before weaning leads to greater growth and ultimately to better performance as a heifer. Recently, a new meta-analysis was published. Jiang et al. (2025) conducted a meta-analysis to gain more insight into the effects of ADG (average daily gain) and feed intake of calves before weaning on first-lactation performance. Please find the abstract of this research below. This meta-analysis showed that increasing ADG (average daily gain) before weaning contributes to a higher milk yield in first lactation.
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