Microbiome solutions: intervention opportunities to improve dairy calf health and performance

The development and maturation of the calf gut is an important process that significantly influences calf’s growth and health during early life. More and more evidence indicate that the colonization and establishment of the gut microbiome can directly and indirectly influence animal’s gut function including development and metabolism, nutrition absorption, barrier and immune function, endocrine and neuron transmitter secretions, which can impact animals’ development and growth. The mammalian gut microbiome consists of diverse groups of prokaryotic and eukaryotic microbes, which colonize the gut immediately after birth with different succession orders and shifts dynamically in response to the environment factors (diet, management, farm and so on). The establishment of calf gut microbiome is a complex process and the establishment a stable and the maintenance of a balanced gut microbiota during early life can have a lifelong impact on their performance. Therefore, the intervention of gut microbiome to prevent and/or restore the microbial dysbiosis during early life has been considered as one of effective approaches to improve gut health. Direct fed microbes (live naturally existing microbes that can benefit host animals on health and production performance) with psychobiotic (a type of probiotic that affect cognitive and behavioral functions of the host via the gut-brain axis) function can be one of novel microbiome solutions to target and alter the microbiome dysbiosis. This presentation will highlight to date research of direct fed microbes and psychobiotics and their potential implications in improving calf health and productivity through manipulation of the gut microbiome in calves.

Keywords: calf, gut health, gut microbiome, direct fed microbes, psychobiotics.