Search

Dietary particle size is one of the most relevant factors influencing rumen function and the selection of the most palatable components of the total mixed ration (TMR) by cows. The aim of this study was to evaluate the particle size distribution (PSD), homogeneity, sorting level, physically effective NDF (peNDF) content of TMRs, and production performances in Calabrian commercial dairy herds in southern Italy. The research was conducted in 13 farms, including 8 with hay-based TMR and 5 with silage-based TMR. All herds delivered fresh feed once a day. At each farm, the TMRs were examined with the Penn State Particle Separator (PSPS) to determine PSD, homogeneity, and feed sorting at two time points (i.e., at fresh feed delivery = T0 and 24 h after feed delivery = Tf). None of the diets that were evaluated met the recommended PSD, showing an excess of long fraction, very short fraction, or both. The homogeneity was good except for three diets, but particle selection raised some concerns in 85% of the farms due to the preferential consumption of the very short fraction by the cows, with rejection of the long fractions. All the diets analyzed met the Penn State University recommended neutral detergent fiber (NDF) values (>28%) except for one farm’s diet. In three of the TMRs observed, however, the content of peNDF > 8 mm was less than 15%. NDF and peNDF > 8 mm values of TMRs showed statistically significant correlations with milk fat content. Therefore, it is important to evaluate the chemical and physical properties of TMR to provide a consistent diet and prevent feed sorting.

Currently, in dairy farming, there is growing concern for the welfare of calves during the critical period between the separation from their dams and weaning. During weaning, rationed feeding is a practice used to improve feed efficiency and control the calves’ growth, but it could also have negative consequences associated with hunger and feed restriction behavior. One such consequence could be the performance by calves of stereotyped behaviors indicative of poor welfare, such as non-nutritive oral behaviors. We hypothesized that making a Total Mixed Ration (TMR) available to calves, in addition to the standard pelleted starter diet, thanks to its structural and nutritional characteristics, could help to focus the oral behavior of the subjects towards nutritional activities and therefore limit the development of stereotyped behaviors, even when the amount of starter is restricted. To test this hypothesis, 30 female Holstein calves (equipped with an accelerometer based on an ear tag), were randomly assigned to one of three treatments: a control diet (CTR) with an ad libitum calf starter but without TMR; Treatment 1 (TRT1) with both ad libitum calf starter and ad libitum TMR; Treatment 2 (TRT2) with ad libitum TMR and a restricted amount of a calf starter (50% of the intake starter of the control group day by day). All animals were kept in individual cages equipped with a slow-flow teat bucket apparatus for milk feeding and with access to separated buckets (one for drinking water, one for the starter, and one for the TMR) placed on the outside of the front gate of each cage. Sucking behavior, as well as resting, ruminating and activity behavior, was recorded individually from 7 days of life to weaning (63 d of age) by an automated monitoring system based on ear-tag accelerometers (SCR eSense, Allflex, Irving, TX, USA). The results showed that in the CTR group, there was a greater sucking activity compared to the TRT1 group (26.25 min/head/day vs. 16.83 min/head/day, p = 0.0181), while the TRT2 group showed intermediate values (20.41 min/head/day). We hypothesized that this increased sucking activity may be explained by the oral activity directed at sucking the Milk Bar tube observed only in CTR calves after complete consumption of available milk and could indicate a higher stress level than in the TRT1 group. The time spent resting was significantly lower for the CTR group compared to the TRT1 group (9.20 h/day vs. 11.15 h/day, p = 0.0049) while the TRT2 group was in an intermediate situation (10.65 h/day). Furthermore, the increase in time dedicated to rest observed in TRT1, in light of the good vitality of the calves shown by the daily patterns of resting behavior and daily activity, also seems to suggest an improvement in welfare conditions compared to calves receiving pelleted starter alone. Based on these results, we can deduce that providing TMR ad libitum in the diet of weaning calves could be an effective strategy to improve calf welfare due to the reduction in stereotyped oral activity. However, further studies are needed to establish threshold values useful for distinguishing physiological from pathological resting times in weaning calves raised in individual cages.

The Podolica cattle breed is widespread in southern Italy, and its productivity is characterized by low yields and an extraordinary quality of milk and meats. Most of the milk produced is transformed into “Caciocavallo Podolico” cheese, which is made with 100% Podolica milk. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) is the technique that, in this research work, was applied together with machine learning to discriminate 100% Podolica milk from contamination of other Calabrian cattle breeds. The analysis on the test set produced a misclassification percentage of 6.7%. Among the 15 non-Podolica samples in the test set, 2 were misclassified and recognized as Podolica milk even though the milk was from other species. The correct classification rate improved to 100% when the same method was applied to the recognition of Podolica and Pezzata Rossa milk produced by the same farm. Furthermore, this technique was tested for the recognition of Podolica milk mixed with milk from other bovine species. The multivariate model and the respective confusion matrices obtained showed that all the 14 Podolica samples (test set) mixed with 40% non-Podolica milk were correctly classified. In addition, Pezzata Rossa milk produced by the same farm was detected as a contaminant in Podolica milk from the same farm down to concentrations as little as 5% with a 100% correct classification rate in the test set. The method described yielded higher accuracy values when applied to the discrimination of milks from different breeds belonging to the same farm. One of the reasons for this phenomenon could be linked to the elimination of the environmental variable. However, the results obtained in this work demonstrate the possibility of using FTIR to discriminate between milks from different breeds.

The aim of the current study was to evaluate the effect of the starter restriction and of the ad libitum TMR (total mixed ration) inclusion on intake, growth performance, rumination time (RT), and health condition of Holstein dairy calves during weaning. We randomly assigned thirty female Holstein calves (with an average weight of 38.5 ± 1.96 kg at birth) to one of three treatments. From 21 days of age, the calves were fed one of three treatments as follows: a control diet (CTR) with an ad libitum calf starter but without TMR; Treatment 1 diet (TRT1) with both an ad libitum calf starter and ad libitum TMR; Treatment 2 diet (TRT2) with ad libitum TMR and a restricted amount of a calf starter (50% of the intake recorder in the control group day by day). Calves in the TRT2 group, between 56 and 63 days of age, had a lower body weight (80.1; 79.5; 75.6 kg for the CTR, TRT1, and TRT2 groups, respectively) compared with CTR and TRT1 calves. This outcome is ascribed to the average daily gain (0.759; 0.913; 0.508 kg/day for the CTR, TRT1, and TRT2 groups, respectively), resulting also in TRT2 being lower than CTR or TRT1 calves. The inclusion of ad libitum TMR increased the rumination time, especially after weaning (15.28 min/h, 18.38 min/h, and 18.95 min/h for the CTR, TRT1, and TRT2 groups, respectively). Concerning the rumen metabolism and inflammometabolic response, overall, no differences were observed between the three dietary treatments. In conclusion, the results indicated that a TMR could partially replace a calf starter in weaning dairy calves, since neither growth performance nor health status were impaired. In addition, providing TMR (with or without concentrate restriction) led to a better rumen development and likely a better rumen fermentation efficiency in post-weaning.

In Italy, buffalo mozzarella is a largely sold and consumed dairy product. The fraudulent adulteration of buffalo milk with cheaper and more available milk of other species is very frequent. In the present study, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), in combination with multivariate analysis by partial least square (PLS) regression, was applied to quantitatively detect the adulteration of buffalo milk with cow milk by using a fully automatic equipment dedicated to the routine analysis of the milk composition. To enhance the heterogeneity, cow and buffalo bulk milk was collected for a period of over three years from different dairy farms. A total of 119 samples were used for the analysis to generate 17 different concentrations of buffalo-cow milk mixtures. This procedure was used to enhance variability and to properly randomize the trials. The obtained calibration model showed an R2 ≥ 0.99 (R2cal. = 0.99861; root mean square error of cross-validation [RMSEC] = 2.04; R2val. = 0.99803; root mean square error of prediction [RMSEP] = 2.84; root mean square error of cross-validation [RMSECV] = 2.44) suggesting that this method could be successfully applied in the routine analysis of buffalo milk composition, providing rapid screening for possible adulteration with cow’s milk at no additional cost.

The presence of chemical contaminants, toxins, or veterinary drugs in milk, as well as the adulteration of milk from different species, has driven the development of new tools to ensure safety and quality. Several analytical procedures have been proposed for the rapid screening of hazardous substances or the selective confirmation of the authenticity of milk. Mid-infrared spectroscopy and Fourier-transform infrared have been two of the most relevant technologies conventionally employed in the dairy industry. These fingerprint methodologies can be very powerful in determining the trait of raw material without knowing the identity of each constituent, and several aspects suggest their potential as a screening method to detect adulteration. This paper reviews the latest advances in applying mid-infrared spectroscopy for the detection and quantification of adulterants, milk dilution, the presence of pathogenic bacteria, veterinary drugs, and hazardous substances in milk.

Nowadays, the search for food products that promote consumers’ health has gained interest, and dairy by-products, due to their biological quality, could have a prominent position among products with health benefits. However, little is known about their activity on cancer cells. This study aimed to provide evidence about the effect of ovine colostrum and milk whey on K562 cells, a model of the human chronic myeloid leukemia cell line. The exposure of K562 cells to a single administration of sheep by-products at different concentrations for three days and three treatments for three days was carried out. Using a flow cytometric approach, we found that CD235a expression remained stable in the cells exposed to ovine whey (milk and colostrum) at concentrations ranging from 1 ng/mL to 100 μg/mL, after three days from one or three administrations, respectively. A significant reduction in fluorescent cells was observed in the populations exposed to 1 mg/mL of both milk and colostrum at the same time points. In these conditions, the size and granularity of the leukemic cells also changed, with a substantial reduction in the number of actively dividing cells in the S phase of the cell cycle. This phenomenon was highlighted by the Annexin V/PI cytofluorimetric test, which is able to provide quantitative results regarding the population of cells in early or late apoptosis or necrotic cells after exposure to a single dose or three doses of colostrum or sheep whey for three days, respectively. This report showed that both colostrum and milk whey were able to modify the phenotypic profile and cell cycle of the K562 cell line, inducing apoptosis at the highest concentration.