Growth of female dairy calves fed neomycin and oxytetracycline in milk replacer

Public concern about antimicrobial resistance of foodborne pathogens has led to a re-evaluation of the costs and benefits of feeding antimicrobial agents to livestock. The potential benefits of restricting antimicrobial feeding should be evaluated in light of effects on animal health, growth and economic efficiency of production. Previous experiments in research herds showed that feeding milk replacer containing antibiotics increased growth rates of calves, but data are lacking from commercial dairy farms. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the effect of feeding oxytetracycline and neomycin in milk replacer on growth in dairy heifers from birth to four months of age.