Effect of Forage-Free Diet on the Growth Performance, Feed Efficiency, Blood Metabolites, and Mammary Gland Parenchyma of Prepubertal Holstein Heifers.

Variation in nutritional profile and availability of high-quality forages remain primary challenges for efficient heifer rearing on a forage-based diet. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of limit feeding forage-free diet on growth performance, feed efficiency, blood metabolites, behavior, health, and mammary parenchyma of prepubertal dairy heifers. Sixteen prepubertal heifers (Body weight = 168 ± 32Kg) divided into 8 pens (2 heifers/pen) were used in a completely randomized design (n = 4 pen/treatment) to compare the effect of a diet containing 20% forage with a forage-free diet.