Altering the Distribution of Daily Milk Allowance Pre‐Weaning Affects Growth Trajectories and Weaning Adaptation in Dairy‐Beef Calves

Calf rearers commonly use restricted milk feeding to reduce costs, although providing more milk early in life may support early growth and calf welfare. This study compared two restricted milk feeding regimens that offered the same amount of calf milk replacer (CMR) but differed in distribution during the rearing period. A total of 160 dairy‐beef calves (4–10 days old) were assigned to either a ‘Fast' regimen (5, 6, 6, 5, 4 and 2 L/day of CMR in weeks 1–6, respectively, with step‐down weaning) or a ‘Static' regimen (4 L/day of CMR for 7 weeks with abrupt weaning), with ad libitum access to meal. Calves were routinely weighed until they reached 100 kg liveweight and blood metabolites associated with rumen development and metabolic status were measured pre‐ and post‐weaning. During days 14–28, Fast‐fed calves weighed 2.9–4.1 kg more than Static‐fed calves ( p < 0.05). By week 5, liveweights converged and there were no differences thereafter or in the age to attain 100 kg. While cumulative meal intake in the first 8 weeks was comparable (∼34 kg/calf), Static‐fed calves consumed more than twice the amount of starter meal during weeks 2 and 3 ( p < 0.05). Blood total protein, β‐hydroxybutyric acid and urea concentrations were similar between treatments, except that non‐esterified fatty acid concentrations were lower in the Fast‐fed calves 1‐week post‐weaning (0.12 vs. 0.18 mmol/L; p = 0.009), suggesting lower metabolic stress during the weaning transition. These findings demonstrate that redistributing milk allowance to a front‐loaded feeding strategy improves early growth and supports a smoother metabolic transition at weaning, without increasing total milk input or affecting time to target liveweight. This provides calf rearers with a practical opportunity to increase early calf performance within existing restricted milk feeding systems.