Effects of licorice extract on growth performance,diarrhea rate,and blood indexes of suckling calves

QU Ping-ping; LI Tao; ZHANG Xue-li; GAO Jing; CAO Lei; ZHU Wei; GUO Meng-yao

doi:10.13557/j.cnki.issn1002-2813.2024.24.002

Abstract：The experiment aimed to investigate the effects of licorice extract on the growth performance,diarrhea rate,and blood indexes of suckling calves.A total of 40 healthy female calves of similar body weight and two days old were randomly divided into two groups,with each group having five replicates and each replicate consisting of four calves.The control group was fed with regular milk,while the experimental group was fed with regular milk supplemented with 1 g/kg of licorice extract.The trial period lasted for 63 days.The results showed that compared with the control group,the licorice extract group had significantly increased average daily weight gain during the periods of 1～21,22～42 and 43～63 days(P＜0.05),and significantly reduced diarrhea rate and fecal score during the periods of 22～42 and 43～63 days(P＜0.05).The serum total protein on the 42nd day,serum globulin on the 63rd day,serum glucose on the 42nd and 63rd days,serum cholesterol,calcium,and phosphorus content on the 63rd day,and amylase activity on the 21st,42nd,and 63rd days in the licorice extract group were significantly increased(P＜0.05).The serum alkaline phosphatase activity on the 21st day,serum glutamic-pyruvic transaminase activity and total bilirubin content on the 63rd day,and creatinine content on the 21st and 42nd days were significantly decreased(P＜0.05).The study indicates that the addition of licorice extract to regular milk can improve the growth performance,reduce diarrhea rates,promote the metabolism of protein,glucose,lipids,and calcium-phosphorus,and has a certain protective effect on the liver and kidneys of calves.