Effects of electrolyte supplementation on performance and physiological responses of preconditioning beef calves.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of electrolyte solution supplementation on the performance and physiological responses of beef calves during a 45-d preconditioning phase. Forty Angus × Hereford steers (230.4 ± 4.8 kg body weight [BW]) were sorted into 20 pens (2 steers/pen) following weaning (day 0). Treatments were randomly assigned to pens: (1) control: access to water only and (2) electrolyte: access to water and electrolyte solution supplementation (10% of total daily water intake) from days 1 to 14. Calf BW and blood samples were collected on days 0, 1, 3, 7, 14, 21, and 44 of the study. Blood samples were analyzed for sodium, potassium, albumin, haptoglobin, ceruloplasmin, and cortisol. All variables were analyzed using the MIXED procedure of SAS. Electrolyte solution consumption was estimated at 0.70 kg/calf daily (SEM ± 0.21). Calves assigned to the Electrolyte treatment had greater water and total liquid intake than control ( P  < 0.05). No effects of treatment were observed on ADG or BW ( P  > 0.05). Effects of day ( P  < 0.004), but not treatment or treatment × day were observed for sodium, potassium, albumin, cortisol, ceruloplasmin, and haptoglobin. Electrolyte solution supplementation during the preconditioning period did not improve performance nor influenced stress-related markers, however improved liquid intake.