Metabolic profile of Charolais young bulls transported over long-distance.

Long-distance transport can cause stress to beef cattle impairing health and growth performances. This study aimed to deepen the knowledge of the effects of long-distance transport on young bulls' metabolic profile to identify reliable blood parameters for monitoring their health and welfare. Eighty Charolais young bulls, transported for 12 hours to the final fattening unit, were weighed and blood sampled at three time intervals: before leaving the commingling centre (day -1), upon arrival at the fattening unit (day 0), and 7 days post-arrival (day 7).

Bacteria colonization and gene expression related to immune function in colon mucosa is associated with growth in neonatal calves regardless of live yeast supplementation.

Background: As Holstein calves are susceptible to gastrointestinal disorders during the first week of life, understanding how intestinal immune function develops in neonatal calves is important to promote better intestinal health. Feeding probiotics in early life may contribute to host intestinal health by facilitating beneficial bacteria colonization and developing intestinal immune function. The objective of this study was to characterize the impact of early life yeast supplementation and growth on colon mucosa-attached bacteria and host immune function.

accelerates intestinal microbiota maturation and is correlated with increased secretory IgA production in neonatal dairy calves.

Neonatal calves have a limited capacity to initiate immune responses due to a relatively immature adaptive immune system, which renders them susceptible to many on-farm diseases. At birth, the mucosal surfaces of the intestine are rapidly colonized by microbes in a process that promotes mucosal immunity and primes the development of the adaptive immune system. In a companion study, our group demonstrated that supplementation of a live yeast probiotic, (SCB) CNCM I-1079, to calves from birth to 1 week of age stimulates secretory IgA (sIgA) production in the intestine.

Characterization of fecal branched-chain fatty acid profiles and their associations with fecal microbiota in diarrheic and healthy dairy calves.

Branched-chain fatty acids (BCFA) have recently been reported to play a role in human gut health during early life. However, little information is available on the fecal BCFA profiles in young ruminants and whether they are associated with the development of neonatal calf diarrhea. The objectives of this study were to (1) characterize BCFA profiles in feces collected from young calves, (2) compare the fecal BCFA composition between diarrheic and nondiarrheic dairy calves, and (3) explore the potential relationships between BCFA and microbiota in the feces.

Linking perturbations to temporal changes in diversity, stability, and compositions of neonatal calf gut microbiota: prediction of diarrhea.

Perturbations in early life gut microbiota can have long-term impacts on host health. In this study, we investigated antimicrobial-induced temporal changes in diversity, stability, and compositions of gut microbiota in neonatal veal calves, with the objective of identifying microbial markers that predict diarrhea. A total of 220 samples from 63 calves in first 8 weeks of life were used in this study.