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Citation

Thesis Title
Effect of differing forages on the early growth and behaviour development of dairy heifers during pre and post weaning periods.

Read article at Massey Research Online:

New Zealand contains a grass based dairy system. At birth, dairy calves do not have a developed digestive system to consume grass. Therefore, calves are offered milk with some added solid feed until such a stage when they start grass consumption. In commercial dairies, early transition from milk to grass is required in order to reduce the extra costs of milk, solid feed and labour. However, this transition phase is critical and if not performed correctly, can impact growth loss and future milk production. Mr Ullah offered different forages to calves from birth and researched their growth and behaviour development. His results showed that early exposure to different forages helps dairy calves become familiar with grass and adapt to New Zealand's grass based system effectively and efficiently.

Supervisors
Professor Nicolas Lopez-Villalobos
Professor Stephen Morris
Professor Hugh Blair