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Effects of different energy intakes before and after calving on food intake, performance and blood hormones and metabolites in dairy cows

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

P. L. Kunz ,
J. W. Blum ,
I. C. Hart ,
H. Bickel  and
J. Landis
P. L. Kunz
Affiliation:
Institute for Animal Production, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland
J. W. Blum
Affiliation:
Institute for Animal Production, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland
I. C. Hart
Affiliation:
National Institute for Research in Dairying, Shinfield, Reading RG2 9AT
H. Bickel
Affiliation:
Institute for Animal Production, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland
J. Landis
Affiliation:
Institute for Animal Production, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland
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Abstract

An experiment with 25 dairy cows was performed to investigate the effects of different energy intakes on food intake, performance and blood hormone and metabolite levels during the last 70 days of pregnancy and the first 125 days after parturition. Compared with animals fed ad libitum before parturition, cows fed only according to requirements during the same time showed no decrease of food intake at calving. Cows fed at a restricted level also showed a faster increase in food intake, a smaller energy deficiency at the onset of lactation and a smaller weight loss after parturition. Peak milk yield was also lower, but the peak was maintained for a longer period, and during the first 2 months of lactation these cows had higher concentrations of glucose and lactic acid, and lower concentrations of non-esterified fatty acids and ketone bodies in the blood. Weight losses, and decrease of milk production during the 1st weeks of lactation were higher in cows fed only 0·75 of requirements during the first 60 days of lactation than in animals whose energy intake was planned to cover energy requirements, and during the first 2 months of lactation levels of unesterified fatty acids, ketone bodies and urea were higher, whereas levels of insulin, thyroxine and triiodothyronine were lower. Endocrine and metabolic changes seen during early lactation suggested improved glucose homeostasis, diminished fat mobilization and ketogenesis in cows given reduced amounts of energy during the dry period compared to animals fed ad libitum. To prevent the development of acetonaemia an adequate energy supply during the first part of lactation is, however, of greater importance.

Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Production , Volume 40 , Issue 2 , April 1985 , pp. 219 - 231
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1985

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