The objective of thi study was to examine the effects of milk replacer in comparison with whole milk on efficiency and performance and blood parameters of neonatal dairy calves. For this purpose, fifthy males of Holstein dairy calves (10 calves per treatment) were used in a completely randomized design. At d 3 of age, individually housed calves were randomly allocated to different treatments consisting of:1) Milk replacer Fokkamle Blue (CP= 23%, CF=20%), 2) Kalber Gold (CP= 23%, CF= 18%), 3) Spezial Nue ( CP= 22%, CF= 19.5%), 4) TentoMilk ( CP=21%, CF=16%) and 5) Whole Milk. Starter intake, growth and blood parameters were monitored during pre-weaning (d 1 to 52) and post-weaning (d 52 to 70) periods. After birth, all calves were fed enough amounts of colostrums for the first 3 d. All calves was weaned at d 52. Calves were weighed every 10 d before the morning feeding and the blood samples of calves were taken in d 14, 28, 42 and 70. Data from trial were analyzed using SAS statistical software and the MIXED procedure as a completely randomized design, and initial body weight was considered as a quvariate variable. The data showed there were no significant differences between treatments at pre weaning but there was a significant difference between treatments 3 and 4 at post weaning (P 0.01) and all the whole period (P 0.05). Average daily gain in treatment 3 was lower as compared to other treatments at post weaning (P 0.01) and treatment 5 was higher for the whole period (P 0.05), respectively. There were no significant differences between treatments for feed efficiency at pre weaning and whole the period but there were no significant differences between starter intake at pre weaning and the whole period (P 0.01). There were significant differences between treatments on total protein (P 0.05), blood urea nitrogen (P 0.05), magnesium (P 0.01), phosphour (P 0.05), tryglycerid (P 0.05) and cholesterol (P 0.01). There were significant differences between treatments in ruminal pH and ruminal pH between treatments 3 and 4 was lower compared to other treatments (P 0.05). There were significant differences between treatments for fecal score (P 0.05). Fecal score for treatment 2 was lower compared to other treatments. Our results indicate that milk replacer 4 (CP=21%, CF=16%) provided modest benefits in performance and growth for dairy calves compared with the other milk replacers and whole milk. Keywords : Milk replacer, Whole milk, Calf performance, Average daily gain, Feed efficiency
