Effect of dietary supplementation with fish oil during the transition period on milk production, plasma metabolites and postpartum anoestrus interval in grazing dairy cows

2011 ◽  
Vol 51 (5) ◽  
pp. 481 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Mendoza ◽  
D. Crespi ◽  
A. Hernández ◽  
N. Roura ◽  
H. Valentín ◽  
...  

Inclusion of fish oil (FO) in the diet of dairy cows could improve the energy status and milk yield and reduce the interval from calving to first postpartum ovulation, but the effects may differ depending on the specific period of supplementation. To test these hypotheses, 28 pregnant Holstein heifers were randomly assigned to four treatments in a 2 × 2 factorial design: prepartum oral drench of FO (0 or 140 g/cow.day) for 21 days before calving, and/or postpartum oral drench of FO (0 or 190 g/cow.day) for 21 days after calving. Prepartum, heifers grazed in native pastures with supplements of wheat silage and wheat bran, while postpartum, cows grazed on improved pastures with addition of concentrates and corn silage. No interaction between prepartum and postpartum FO was detected for any variable analysed. Prepartum and postpartum total DM intake, milk yield, protein yield and percentage were not different among treatments. Milk fat percentage (3.83 versus 3.34 ± 0.10%) and yield (0.88 versus 0.73 ± 0.04 kg/day) decreased with postpartum FO but were not affected by prepartum FO. Prepartum and postpartum body condition score and plasma concentration of non-esterified fatty acids and cholesterol were not different among treatments, but urea concentration was higher in cows drenched with FO during prepartum (5.91 versus 4.64 ± 0.35 mM). Proportion of cows that ovulated the dominant follicle of the first postpartum wave and days to first postpartum ovulation, as determined by ovarian ultrasonography, were not affected by drenching with FO, but size of the dominant follicle in the first wave was decreased when FO was drenched only during the pre- or postpartum period compared with drenching in both periods. Dietary supplementation with FO during the postpartum period affected milk fat synthesis but more research is needed to establish its effects on resumption of ovarian activity in grazing dairy cows.

2020 ◽  
Vol 87 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-22
Author(s):  
Bethan E. Till ◽  
James A. Huntington ◽  
Kirsty E. Kliem ◽  
Jules Taylor-Pickard ◽  
Liam A. Sinclair

AbstractThe aims of the study were to determine the long-term effects of dietary supplementation with microalgae (SCIM) on milk and blood fatty acid (FA) composition and reproductive hormones in early lactation dairy cows. Sixty Holstein–Friesian dairy cows (30 per treatment) were unsupplemented (Control) or supplemented with 100 g of SCIM (Schizochytrium limacinum sp.) per cow per day from 25 ± 0.5 d post-partum for 98 d. Intake and milk yield were recorded daily, with milk samples collected at weeks 0, 1, 2, 4, 8 and 14, and blood samples collected from 12 representative pairs per treatment at weeks 0, 2, 4, 8, and 14 for subsequent analysis of FA, β-hydroxybutyrate, non-esterified fatty acids and glucose. At 33 ± 0.9 d postpartum the oestrus cycle of 24 cows (12 per treatment) were synchronized and plasma 13,14-dihydro-15-keto PGF2α (PGFM) concentrations determined following an oxytocin challenge. Data were analysed by repeated measures analysis of variance. There was no effect of treatment on dry matter intake, milk yield or milk fat content, with mean values across treatments of 22.1 and 40.6, and 37.2 g/kg respectively. Milk fat concentration of C22:6 n-3 increased rapidly in cows receiving SCIM, reaching a maximum of 0.38 g/100 g FA by week 14. Similarly, blood concentration of C22:6 n-3 increased to 1.6 g/100 g FA by week 14 in cows fed SCIM. There was no effect of treatment on plasma metabolites, but plasma glucose was lower in cows fed SCIM compared to the Control at week 2, and higher in week 8. There was no effect of treatment on peak plasma PGFM concentration or area under the curve. It is concluded that feeding SCIM rapidly increases blood and milk concentrations of C22:6 n-3 which are maintained over time, but does not improve plasma PGFM in dairy cows.


Animals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Dunshea ◽  
Kehinde Oluboyede ◽  
Kristy DiGiacomo ◽  
Brian Leury ◽  
Jeremy Cottrell

Betaine is an organic osmolyte sourced from sugar beet that accumulates in plant cells undergoing osmotic stress. Since the accumulation of betaine lowers the energy requirements of animals and, therefore, metabolic heat production, the aim of this experiment was to investigate if betaine supplementation improved milk yield in grazing dairy cows in summer. One hundred and eighteen Friesian × Holstein cows were paired on days in milk and, within each pair, randomly allocated to a containing treatment of either 0 or 2 g/kg natural betaine in their concentrate ration for approximately 3 weeks during February/March 2015 (summer in Australia). The mean maximum February temperature was 30 °C. Cows were allocated approximately 14 kg dry matter pasture and 7.5 kg of concentrate pellets (fed in the milking shed) per cow per day and were milked through an automatic milking system three times per day. Betaine supplementation increased average daily milk yield by over 6% (22.0 vs. 23.4 kg/day, p < 0.001) with the response increasing as the study progressed as indicated by the interaction (p < 0.001) between betaine and day. Milk fat % (p = 0.87), milk protein % (p = 0.90), and milk somatic cell count (p = 0.81) were unchanged by dietary betaine. However, betaine supplementation increased milk protein yield (677 vs. 719 g/day, p < 0.001) and fat yield (874 vs. 922 g/day, p < 0.001) with responses again being more pronounced as the study progressed. In conclusion, dietary betaine supplementation increased milk and component yield during summer in grazing dairy cows.


2009 ◽  
Vol 77 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roland G Karcagi ◽  
Tibor Gaál ◽  
Piroska Ribiczey ◽  
Gyula Huszenicza ◽  
Ferenc Husvéth

The aim of the study was to test the effect of rumen-inert fat supplements of different chemical forms or containing different unsaturated/saturated (U/S) fatty acid contents on milk production, milk composition and liver and blood metabolic variables of high-yielding dairy cows in the peripartal period. Thirty Holstein-Friesian dairy cows were divided into three equal groups and fed a corn silage-based diet, without fat supplementation (control) or supplemented with 11·75 MJ NEl per day of calcium soaps of palm oil fatty acids (CAS; U/S=61/39) or with 11·75 MJ NEl per day of hydrogenated palm oil triglyceride (HTG; U/S=6/94). Each diet was fed from 25±2 d prior to the expected calving to 100±5 d post partum. Compared with the control, both CAS and HTG supplementation resulted in an increase of the average milk yield. Milk fat content and fat-corrected milk yield were higher in the HTG group but lower in the CAS group than in the control group. In all groups liver triglyceride concentrations (TGL) increased from 15 d prepartum to 5 d post partum, and then decreased thereafter. At 5 d TGL was lower in the HTG group than control or CAS cows. No significant differences were detected in TGL among dietary treatments at 15 d prepartum and 25 d post partum. Higher plasma glucose and insulin and lower non-esterified fattay acids and β-hydroxybutyrate concentrations and aspartate aminotransferase activity were measured in the HTG group than in the control or CAS groups at 5 d or 25 d post partum. Our results show that HTG may provide a better energy supply for high-yielding dairy cows in negative energy balance than CAS around calving.


2000 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 137-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
TIMOTHY W. J. KEADY ◽  
C. SINCLAIR MAYNE ◽  
DEIRDRE A. FITZPATRICK

The effects of level of fish oil inclusion in the diet on grass silage intake, and milk yield and composition of dairy cows offered either 5 or 10 kg concentrates/d were evaluated in a ten treatment, partly balanced, changeover design experiment involving 50 cows in early lactation. Concentrates were prepared to provide 0, 150, 300 or 450 g fish oil/cow per d or 300 g fish oil/cow per d from a premix when each animal was offered 5 kg/d. The fish oil was predominantly from herring and mackerel caught in the North Atlantic while the fish oil premix was obtained from a commercial source and used palm kernel expeller as a carrier. Increasing fish oil supplementation decreased silage dry matter intake and the concentrations of milk fat and protein, and increased milk yield and diet digestibility. There were significant interactions between concentrate feed level and level of fish oil for silage intake and milk yield. Other than for the concentrations of milk fat and protein, and 20[ratio ]4n−6 fatty acids, the source of fish oil did not affect forage intake or animal performance. Fish oil supplementation also decreased the concentrations of milk protein by 0·9 g/kg for each 100 g increase in fish oil supplementation, the depression being similar at each level of concentrate feeding. Supplementing the feed of dairy cows with 450 g fish oil/cow per d decreased the concentration of milk fat by 15 g/kg. This study also showed that feeding dairy cattle with fish oil is an efficient method of increasing eicosapentaenoic acid in the human diet through transfer into milk.


1997 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
YVES CHILLIARD ◽  
MICHEL DOREAU

The effects of a daily supplement of 300 ml fish oil and 20 g rumen-protected methionine, alone or in combination, were investigated in mid-lactation cows receiving a maize silage-based diet ad lib. Fish oil significantly decreased feed intake, increased milk yield, decreased protein and casein concentrations, and especially fat concentration (by 13·1 g/kg) and output. Fat concentration decreased more in primiparous than in multiparous cows. Methionine supplementation increased protein and casein concentrations and outputs. No significant interaction between oil and methionine supplementation was found on milk composition. Treatments did not modify live weight or body condition changes, or lactose and non-casein nitrogenous compounds in milk. Oil plus methionine supplementation made it possible to decrease milk fat content without changing protein content.


2005 ◽  
Vol 95 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 27-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
O.A. Rego ◽  
H.J.D. Rosa ◽  
P. Portugal ◽  
R. Cordeiro ◽  
A.E.S. Borba ◽  
...  

animal ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (8) ◽  
pp. 1379-1389 ◽  
Author(s):  
B.F. O'Neill ◽  
E. Lewis ◽  
M. O'Donovan ◽  
L. Shalloo ◽  
N. Galvin ◽  
...  

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 2978
Author(s):  
Camila Muñoz ◽  
Rodrigo Villalobos ◽  
Alejandra María Teresa Peralta ◽  
Rodrigo Morales ◽  
Natalie Louise Urrutia ◽  
...  

Research is ongoing to find nutritional methane (CH4) mitigation strategies with persistent effects that can be applied to grazing ruminants. Lipid addition to dairy cow diets has shown potential as means to decrease CH4 emissions. This study evaluated the effects of oilseeds on CH4 emission and production performance of grazing lactating dairy cows. Sixty Holstein Friesian cows grazing pasture were randomly allocated to 1 of 4 treatments (n = 15): supplemented with concentrate without oilseeds (CON), with whole cottonseed (CTS), rapeseed (RPS) or linseed (LNS). Oilseeds were supplemented during weeks 1–16 (spring period) and 17–22 (summer period), and the autumn period (wk 23–27) was used to evaluate treatment carryover effects. Cows fed CTS decreased CH4 yield by 14% compared to CON in spring, but these effects did not persist after 19 weeks of supplementation (summer). Compared to CON, RPS decreased milk yield and CTS increased milk fat concentration in both spring and summer. In summer, CTS also increased milk protein concentration but decreased milk yield, compared to CON. In spring, compared to CON, CTS decreased most milk medium-chain fatty acids (FA; 8:0, 12:0, 14:0 and 15:0) and increased stearic, linoleic and rumenic FA, and LNS increased CLA FA. There were no carry-over effects into the autumn period. In conclusion, supplementation of grazing dairy cows with whole oilseeds resulted in mild effects on methane emissions and animal performance. In particular, supplementing with CTS can decrease CH4 yield without affecting milk production, albeit with a mild and transient CH4 decrease effect. Long term studies conducted under grazing conditions are important to provide a comprehensive overview of how proposed nutritional CH4 mitigation strategies affect productivity, sustainability and consumer health aspects.


Genes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 456
Author(s):  
Hewa Bahithige Pavithra Chathurangi Ariyarathne ◽  
Martin Correa-Luna ◽  
Hugh Thomas Blair ◽  
Dorian John Garrick ◽  
Nicolas Lopez-Villalobos

The objective of this study was to identify genomic regions associated with milk fat percentage (FP), crude protein percentage (CPP), urea concentration (MU) and efficiency of crude protein utilization (ECPU: ratio between crude protein yield in milk and dietary crude protein intake) using grazing, mixed-breed, dairy cows in New Zealand. Phenotypes from 634 Holstein Friesian, Jersey or crossbred cows were obtained from two herds at Massey University. A subset of 490 of these cows was genotyped using Bovine Illumina 50K SNP-chips. Two genome-wise association approaches were used, a single-locus model fitted to data from 490 cows and a single-step Bayes C model fitted to data from all 634 cows. The single-locus analysis was performed with the Efficient Mixed-Model Association eXpedited model as implemented in the SVS package. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with genome-wide association p-values ≤ 1.11 × 10−6 were considered as putative quantitative trait loci (QTL). The Bayes C analysis was performed with the JWAS package and 1-Mb genomic windows containing SNPs that explained > 0.37% of the genetic variance were considered as putative QTL. Candidate genes within 100 kb from the identified SNPs in single-locus GWAS or the 1-Mb windows were identified using gene ontology, as implemented in the Ensembl Genome Browser. The genes detected in association with FP (MGST1, DGAT1, CEBPD, SLC52A2, GPAT4, and ACOX3) and CPP (DGAT1, CSN1S1, GOSR2, HERC6, and IGF1R) were identified as candidates. Gene ontology revealed six novel candidate genes (GMDS, E2F7, SIAH1, SLC24A4, LGMN, and ASS1) significantly associated with MU whose functions were in protein catabolism, urea cycle, ion transportation and N excretion. One novel candidate gene was identified in association with ECPU (MAP3K1) that is involved in post-transcriptional modification of proteins. The findings should be validated using a larger population of New Zealand grazing dairy cows.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document