EFFECTS OF INDIVIDUAL HOUSING DESIGN AND SIZE ON SPECIAL-FED HOLSTEINVEAL CALF GROWTH-PERFORMANCE, HEMATOLOGY, AND CARCASS CHARACTERISTICS

The objective was to evaluate the effects of individual housing design (stalls vs pens) with widths of 56, 66, and 76 cm (2 x 3 factorial tr eatment arrangement) on growth, hematology, cleanliness, ambulation, a bomasal hairball, and carcass measurements. Three groups of 36 Holstei n bull calves (n = 108) were randomly allotted within group to treatme nts. There were no effects (P > .05) of housing design, width, or two- way interactions for BW, ADG, carcass weight, or dressing percentage. Blood samples were collected at approximately 33-d intervals. Mean val ues for hemoglobin, hematocrit, white blood cell count (WBC), and red blood cell count (RBC) were not different among treatments (P > .05), with the exception of d 28 hemoglobin, which was greater in the calves housed in 66-cm vs 76-cm stall. There were differences (P < .05) due to design and design x width effects for hindquarter cleanliness; manu re accumulation tended to be greater in pens vs stalls as width increa sed. There were increases (P < .05) in left front knee swelling scores as stall or pen size decreased; no important differences were observe d in ambulatory ability among treatment groups. There were design effe cts (P <.05) for excitability scores, with calves in stalls being more excitable. There were no important treatment effects (P > .05) for li ver, spleen, and lung condition, number of abomasal hairballs, or 0- a nd 24-h after slaughter flank or brisket color. These results indicate that housing designs and widths did not affect veal calf growth perfo rmance, WBC, RBC, hemoglobin, hematocrit, ambulation, or muscle color.