Ruminal pH and whole-tract digestibility in dairy cows consuming fresh cut herbage plus concentrates and conserved forage fed either separately or as a partial mixed ration

2014 ◽  
Vol 54 (8) ◽  
pp. 1056 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. S. Greenwood ◽  
M. J. Auldist ◽  
L. C. Marett ◽  
M. C. Hannah ◽  
J. L. Jacobs ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Perennial Ryegrass ◽  
Late Winter ◽  
Wheat Grain ◽  
Ruminal Ph ◽  
Holstein Friesian ◽  
Fresh Cut ◽  
Maize Grain ◽  
Ruminal Digestion ◽  
Friesian Cows ◽  
In Sacco

The objective of this experiment was to compare ruminal pH and whole-tract digestibility in cows consuming fresh cut herbage plus concentrates and silage or hay fed either separately or as a partial mixed ration (PMR). Fourteen rumen-fistulated Holstein-Friesian cows that had calved in late winter were housed in metabolism stalls for 9-day experiments in spring (97 days in milk (DIM)) and autumn (237 DIM). All cows were offered 8 kg dry matter (DM)/day of fresh cut perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) herbage, provided in two equal portions after each milking. Seven cows were assigned to each of two diets: (i) Control: 8.8 kg DM/cow.day milled wheat grain in two equal portions at milking, plus 3.2 kg DM/cow.day perennial ryegrass silage, with all cows receiving the silage portion of their diet after their grain but before their fresh herbage at the afternoon milking; and (ii) PMR: 12 kg DM/cow.day of a PMR containing similar ME as the Control supplements, but comprising maize grain, maize silage, wheat grain, lucerne hay (spring) and pasture silage (autumn). Intake and faecal output was measured on 5 days during each experiment, and ruminal pH was measured every 2 h for a 24-h period. Degradability of wheat and maize grain was measured using standard in sacco techniques. In both experiments, cows fed PMR had higher ruminal fluid pH than Control cows for at least part of the day. Apparent whole-tract digestibilities of DM, organic matter, nitrogen, neutral detergent fibre and starch were greater for Control than PMR cows in spring and not different in autumn (except starch). Ruminal pH was increased by feeding a maize-based PMR but this was not associated with increased whole-tract digestibility. We conclude that the ruminal pH in the Control cows was not low enough for long enough to compromise digestion, or that there was compensatory post-ruminal digestion.

Rumen degradability characteristics of five starch-based concentrate supplements used on Australian dairy farms

2017 ◽  
Vol 57 (7) ◽  
pp. 1512 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. P. McDonnell ◽  
M. vH. Staines ◽  
M. L. Douglas ◽  
M. J. Auldist ◽  
J. L. Jacobs ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Crude Protein ◽  
Degradation Kinetics ◽  
Basal Diet ◽  
Exponential Model ◽  
Holstein Friesian ◽  
Custom Made ◽  
Maize Grain ◽  
Ruminal Digestion ◽  
Friesian Cows ◽  
In Sacco

This experiment compared the rumen degradability characteristics of five starch-based concentrate supplements used by Western Australia (WA) dairy producers. Six rumen-fistulated, non-lactating, Holstein-Friesian cows were used to measure the in sacco rumen degradability of maize grain, oats, wheat, sodium hydroxide-treated wheat (NaOH wheat) and Maximize® (a commercial pellet commonly used by WA dairy producers). Cows were offered a basal diet of custom-made cubes (60 : 40 lucerne hay : wheat grain) at maintenance feeding level. Rumen disappearance of dry matter (DM), starch and crude protein was determined for each concentrate at 0, 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 24, 36, 48 and 72 h, and fitted to an exponential model to estimate degradation kinetics. Effective degradability coefficients were then calculated at three rumen solid-outflow rates (0.02, 0.05 and 0.08/h). Degradability of DM at 0.08/h was lowest (P < 0.001) in maize grain (0.64) and oats (0.68) and greatest in wheat (0.83), with that in NaOH wheat (0.80) and Maximize (0.76) being intermediate. Starch degradability at 0.08/h was also lowest (P < 0.001) in maize grain (0.70), intermediate for NaOH wheat (0.83) and Maximize (0.87), and greatest for wheat (0.96) and oats (0.98). Degradability of crude protein was lowest (P = 0.001) in Maximize (0.66) and NaOH wheat (0.69), greatest in oats (0.85), with that in maize grain (0.72) and wheat (0.79) being intermediate. For producers where availability of maize grain for dairy cow rations is limited, such as in WA, these results indicated that NaOH wheat and Maximize may be considered as alternative starch sources to increase post-ruminal digestion of starch, although the magnitude of this increase will still not be as great as for maize grain.

Effects of pasture allowance on milk production of dairy cows offered increasing amounts of partial mixed rations in spring

2017 ◽  
Vol 57 (7) ◽  
pp. 1305 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. J. Auldist ◽  
M. M. Wright ◽  
L. C. Marett ◽  
J. L. Jacobs ◽  
W. J. Wales
Keyword(s):  
Milk Production ◽  
Milk Fat ◽  
Milk Protein ◽  
Ground Level ◽  
Canola Meal ◽  
Wheat Grain ◽  
Holstein Friesian ◽  
Maize Grain ◽  
Feeding Systems ◽  
Friesian Cows

Milk production was measured in Holstein–Friesian cows offered low, medium or high allowances of ryegrass pasture (15, 25 or 40 kg DM/cow.day to ground level) and receiving different amounts of supplement (6, 10, 12 or 14 kg DM/cow.day) as a partial mixed ration (PMR). The 27-day experiment was conducted in spring when cows were 45 ± 17.3 days in milk (mean ± s.d.). Two groups of six cows received each of the 12 combinations of pasture allowance and PMR amount. The PMR comprised wheat grain (38%, DM basis), maize grain (18%), lucerne hay (22%) and canola meal (22%). When 6 kg DM PMR/cow.day was offered, cows grazing the low allowance produced less milk and energy-corrected milk than did cows grazing the medium and high allowances. There was no effect of pasture allowance on production of milk or energy-corrected milk at any other amount of PMR offered. When cows were offered 14 kg DM PMR/cow.day, milk fat concentrations were lower for cows grazing the high pasture allowance than for cows grazing the medium allowance. There were no differences in milk fat concentrations between cows grazing the different pasture allowances at any other amount of PMR offered. When cows were offered 6 kg DM PMR/cow.day, cows grazing the low pasture allowance yielded less milk fat than did cows grazing the medium pasture allowance. Cows grazing the high allowance had greater concentrations and yields of milk protein than did cows grazing the low allowance at all amounts of PMR offered, while cows grazing the medium allowance yielded more milk protein at some amounts of PMR. Pasture utilisation decreased with increases in both pasture allowance and amount of PMR. These results will enable farmers to better optimise feeding systems that combine both pasture and PMR.

The effects of sward height and concentrate supplementation on the performance of spring calving dairy cows grazing perennial ryegrass-white clover swards

1994 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 167-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. J. Rook ◽  
C. A. Huckle ◽  
R. J. Wilkins
Keyword(s):  
Dairy Cows ◽  
Perennial Ryegrass ◽  
White Clover ◽  
Significant Interaction ◽  
Live Weight ◽  
Individual Animal ◽  
Concentrate Supplementation ◽  
Sward Height ◽  
Holstein Friesian ◽  
Friesian Cows

AbstractForty-eight spring-calving, Holstein-Friesian cows were continuously stocked on perennial ryegrass-white clover swards maintained at compressed sward heights of 4, 6 or 8 cm and offered 0 (U) or 4 (S) kg concentrates. Milk yields and composition, live weights and intakes (estimated by the n-alkane technique) were recorded for periods 24 May to 27 June (P1) and 28 June to 8 August 1992 (P2) with 4 cm swards not used in P2. Milk and component yields were significantly lower at 4 cm than at 6 or 8 cm in P1 and significantly higher when supplements were offered in both periods with no significant interaction. Herbage intakes were reduced more by supplementation at lower sward heights. Live weight was significantly lower on the 4 cm sward. Fat concentrations were unaffected by height and supplementation in P1 but significantly increased by supplementation in P2. These results suggest that maintaining a sward height of 6 cm offers advantages in terms of individual animal output and output per ha compared with grazing at greater or lower sward heights.

Production and composition of milk by dairy cows fed common vetch or lupin grain as protein supplements to a silage and pasture-based diet in early lactation

1996 ◽  
Vol 36 (6) ◽  
pp. 633 ◽  
Author(s):  
SC Valentine ◽  
BD Bartsch
Keyword(s):  
Dairy Cows ◽  
Perennial Ryegrass ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Subterranean Clover ◽  
Early Lactation ◽  
Common Vetch ◽  
Protein Supplements ◽  
Holstein Friesian ◽  
Clover Pasture ◽  
Friesian Cows

Milk production and composition were measured for 49 days in early lactation in 40 Holstein-Friesian cows fed 8 kg/day (fresh weight) of 1:1 mixtures of either rolled barley-lupin grain (Lupinus angustifolius L. cv. Gungurru) or barley-common vetch grain (Vicia sativa L. cv. Blanche Fleur). All cows were fed 1 kg/day of a pelleted concentrate containing minerals and vitamins, and wilted perennial ryegrass-subterranean clover pasture silage was available ad libitum with restricted grazing of perennial ryegrass-subterranean clover pasture. Cows ate all of the barley-lupin grain and barley-vetch grain mixtures. Mean daily dry matter intakes of silage (kg/cow.day) were 9.9 and 9.8 for cows fed the barley-lupin grain and barley-vetch grain mixtures respectively. Estimated pasture DM intake was 3.0 kg/cow.day. Mean daily yields of milk (L), fat (kg) and protein (kg) were significantly (P<0.001) greater for cows fed the barley-lupin grain mixture (30.3, 1.30 and 0.92 respectively) than for those fed the barley-vetch grain mixture (27.7, 1.23 and 0.87 respectively). Cows fed the barley-vetch grain mixture gained 0.2 kg/day more liveweight than those fed the barley-lupin grain mixture. Although both common vetch grain and lupin grain were readily eaten by dairy cows, when fed as protein supplements to a high quality silage and pasture-based diet in early lactation, cows fed the vetch grain produced less milk and milk components. This may be related to the greater partitioning of nutrients to liveweight gain rather than to toxicity problems in the cows fed vetch grain.

Changes in the rumen microbial population and its activities during the refaunation period after the reintroduction of ciliate protozoa into the rumen of defaunated sheep

1993 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan G. Williams ◽  
Susan E. Withers
Keyword(s):  
Bacterial Population ◽  
Microbial Population ◽  
Microbial Populations ◽  
Ruminal Fermentation ◽  
Microbial Activities ◽  
Ruminal Ph ◽  
Ruminal Digestion ◽  
Phase Population ◽  
Ciliate Protozoa ◽  
In Sacco

Changes in the microbial populations, their activities, and the ruminal fermentation were monitored for 50 d following the reintroduction of ciliate protozoa into four defaunated sheep. A protozoal population was reestablished successfully in each recipient, using a washed inoculum containing approximately 103 cells, although there were between-animal differences in the rates of recolonization and genus establishment. Entodinium spp. predominated in the initial stages of the refaunation period and had an apparent maximal generation time of 9–10 h. Bacterial and fungal numbers did not decline following the reintroduction of protozoa and a small transient increase in the numbers of amylolytic and xylanolytic bacteria and fungal zoospores occurred in the early stages of refaunation when the protozoal population was < 105/g ruminal contents, but these subsequently declined as the protozoa established. Although the fibrolytic bacterial population was lowest in period 3 (> 105 protozoa/g), the in sacco ruminal digestion of Lolium perenne hay and polysaccharolytic enzyme activities in the solids-associated populations were either maintained or increased when protozoa were present confirming the important contribution of protozoa to fibre breakdown in the rumen. Significant changes in ruminal microbial activities occurred after protozoal reinoculation but before the rumen had refaunated completely. Arylamidase activities in the liquor-phase population and ruminal ammonia concentrations increased significantly within 48 h of transfaunation; the magnitude of the effects became more pronounced as the protozoal population developed. However, volatile fatty acid formation and ruminal pH were not affected after the reintroduction of protozoa.Key words: rumen, sheep, ciliate protozoa.

Responses in milk yield from feeding grain and meat-and-bone meal to cows grazing tropical pastures

1991 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 159 ◽  
Author(s):  
TM Davison ◽  
D Williams ◽  
WN Orr ◽  
AT Lisle
Keyword(s):  
Milk Yield ◽  
Linear Response ◽  
Crude Protein ◽  
Milk Composition ◽  
Meat And Bone Meal ◽  
Bone Meal ◽  
Tropical Pastures ◽  
Holstein Friesian ◽  
Maize Grain ◽  
Friesian Cows

An experiment was conducted with 36 Holstein-Friesian cows to determine the effect on milk yield and milk composition of feeding maize grain with or without meat-and-bone meal (MBM) at high levels of pasture on offer. Cows were offered ground maize with and without MBM to give supplements of 3.0, 5.5 and 8.0 kg DM/day at 16% or 10% crude protein. Animals grazed nitrogen-fertilised tropical grass and grass-legume pastures. Milk production was recorded over a 300-day lactation. Milk yields over 300 days at 3.0, 5.5 and 8.0 kg DM/day averaged 5435, 5605 and 5882 kg/cow, respectively. For milk yields over both 100 and 300 days, a linear response to grain supplement occurred. This represented 0.22 kg milk/kg DM (P<0.05) for the first 100 days, and 0.30 kg milk/kg DM (P=0.087) over the 300-day lactation. Cows receiving MBM tended to lose less (P=0.068) liveweight in the period 1-100 days and to gain more (P=0.054) between 100 and 300 days than cows without MBM. Milk yields across treatments for cows fed with and without MBM averaged 2143 and 2061 kg/cow (P>0.05) for days 1-100, and 5668 and 5614 kg/cow (P>0.05) for days 1-300 of lactation.

Milk production of cows grazing pasture supplemented by a partial mixed ration with or without canola meal

2019 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 778 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. J. Auldist ◽  
M. M. Wright ◽  
L. C. Marett ◽  
M. C. Hannah ◽  
E. Kennedy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Milk Production ◽  
Milk Yield ◽  
Milk Fat ◽  
Milk Protein ◽  
Ground Level ◽  
Canola Meal ◽  
Late Winter ◽  
Early Lactation ◽  
Wheat Grain ◽  
Maize Grain

Milk production responses were measured in grazing cows offered mixed rations with or without canola meal. Experiments were conducted in spring (Experiment 1; early lactation) and autumn (Experiment 2; late lactation). The experiments used 140 (Experiment 1) or 96 (Experiment 2) Holstein-Friesian multiparous dairy cows that had calved in late winter/early spring. Each experiment lasted 28 days including a 14-day adjustment period and a 14-day measurement period during which intake and milk production was measured. In each experiment, there were two dietary treatments: PMR: cows grazed a restricted pasture allowance (10–15 kg DM/cow per day, measured to ground level) supplemented with a PMR comprising wheat grain (60%, DM basis), lucerne hay (21%) and maize grain (19%); and PMR+C: cows were fed the same as the PMR cows, but some wheat grain in the PMR was replaced with solvent-extracted canola meal so that it comprised wheat grain (39%, DM basis), lucerne hay (21%), maize grain (19%) and canola meal (21%). The two treatments were randomly allocated to half the cows in each experiment. Cows were then further allocated into 10 groups of 7 cows (Experiment 1) or 8 groups of 6 cows (Experiment 2). Two groups of cows were assigned to receive a different amount of each ration: 8, 10, 12, 14 or 16 kg DM total supplement/cow per day for Experiment 1 and 6, 8, 10 or 12 kg DM total supplement/cow per day for Experiment 2. In Experiment 1, yields of energy corrected milk (ECM), milk fat, and milk protein were greater for PMR+C cows than PMR cows when 12 kg/cow per day of supplement or more was offered. Milk protein concentration was greater in PMR+C cows than PMR cows but only when 16 kg DM supplement/cow per day was offered. These changes in milk yield and composition were associated with increases in the intakes of pasture, supplement and total DM intake in the PMR+C cows compared with the PMR cows. In Experiment 2 there were no differences in milk yield or composition between PMR and PMR+C cows at any amount of supplement offered, nor were there any differences in intakes of pasture, supplement or total DM intake. It is concluded that replacing some of the wheat in a well-formulated PMR with canola meal can stimulate DMI and increase per-cow production of ECM when high amounts of supplement are fed in early lactation, but not late lactation.

scholarly journals The Use of Artificial Neural Networks and a General Discriminant Analysis for Predicting Culling Reasons in Holstein-Friesian Cows Based on First-Lactation Performance Records

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 721
Author(s):  
Krzysztof Adamczyk ◽  
Wilhelm Grzesiak ◽  
Daniel Zaborski
Keyword(s):  
Neural Networks ◽  
Artificial Neural Networks ◽  
Discriminant Analysis ◽  
Multilayer Perceptrons ◽  
Correct Classification ◽  
Correct Classification Rate ◽  
Classification Rate ◽  
Holstein Friesian ◽  
Artificial Neural ◽  
Friesian Cows

The aim of the present study was to verify whether artificial neural networks (ANN) may be an effective tool for predicting the culling reasons in cows based on routinely collected first-lactation records. Data on Holstein-Friesian cows culled in Poland between 2017 and 2018 were used in the present study. A general discriminant analysis (GDA) was applied as a reference method for ANN. Considering all predictive performance measures, ANN were the most effective in predicting the culling of cows due to old age (99.76–99.88% of correctly classified cases). In addition, a very high correct classification rate (99.24–99.98%) was obtained for culling the animals due to reproductive problems. It is significant because infertility is one of the conditions that are the most difficult to eliminate in dairy herds. The correct classification rate for individual culling reasons obtained with GDA (0.00–97.63%) was, in general, lower than that for multilayer perceptrons (MLP). The obtained results indicated that, in order to effectively predict the previously mentioned culling reasons, the following first-lactation parameters should be used: calving age, calving difficulty, and the characteristics of the lactation curve based on Wood’s model parameters.

scholarly journals Determination of Body Parts in Holstein Friesian Cows Comparing Neural Networks and k Nearest Neighbour Classification

Animals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 50
Author(s):  
Jennifer Salau ◽  
Jan Henning Haas ◽  
Wolfgang Junge ◽  
Georg Thaller
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Neural Networks ◽  
Body Parts ◽  
Nearest Neighbour ◽  
Data Set ◽  
3D Data ◽  
Holstein Friesian ◽  
Knn Classification ◽  
Friesian Cows

Machine learning methods have become increasingly important in animal science, and the success of an automated application using machine learning often depends on the right choice of method for the respective problem and data set. The recognition of objects in 3D data is still a widely studied topic and especially challenging when it comes to the partition of objects into predefined segments. In this study, two machine learning approaches were utilized for the recognition of body parts of dairy cows from 3D point clouds, i.e., sets of data points in space. The low cost off-the-shelf depth sensor Microsoft Kinect V1 has been used in various studies related to dairy cows. The 3D data were gathered from a multi-Kinect recording unit which was designed to record Holstein Friesian cows from both sides in free walking from three different camera positions. For the determination of the body parts head, rump, back, legs and udder, five properties of the pixels in the depth maps (row index, column index, depth value, variance, mean curvature) were used as features in the training data set. For each camera positions, a k nearest neighbour classifier and a neural network were trained and compared afterwards. Both methods showed small Hamming losses (between 0.007 and 0.027 for k nearest neighbour (kNN) classification and between 0.045 and 0.079 for neural networks) and could be considered successful regarding the classification of pixel to body parts. However, the kNN classifier was superior, reaching overall accuracies 0.888 to 0.976 varying with the camera position. Precision and recall values associated with individual body parts ranged from 0.84 to 1 and from 0.83 to 1, respectively. Once trained, kNN classification is at runtime prone to higher costs in terms of computational time and memory compared to the neural networks. The cost vs. accuracy ratio for each methodology needs to be taken into account in the decision of which method should be implemented in the application.

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