Search

This experiment was conducted to determine the effects of diets supplemented with cottonseed oil, Acacia mearnsii-condensed tannin extract, and a combination of both on composition of bovine milk. Treatment diets included addition of cottonseed oil (800 g/d; CSO), condensed tannin from Acacia mearnsii (400 g/d; TAN) or a combination of cottonseed oil (800 g/d) and condensed tannin (400 g/d; CPT) with a diet consisting of 6·0 kg dry matter (DM) of concentrates and alfalfa hay ad libitum, which also served as the control diet (CON). Relative to the CON diet, feeding CSO and CPT diets had a minor impact on feed intake and yield of lactose in milk. These diets increased yields of milk and protein in milk. In contrast to the TAN diet, the CSO and CPT diets significantly decreased milk fat concentration and altered milk fatty acid composition by decreasing the proportion of saturated fatty acids but increasing proportions of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids. The CPT diet had a similar effect to the CSO diet in modifying fatty acid profile. Overall, reduction in milk fat concentration and changes in milk fatty acid profile were probably due to supplementation of linoleic acid-rich cottonseed oil. The TAN diet had no effect on feed intake, milk yield and milk protein concentration. However, a reduction in the yields of protein and lactose occurred when cows were fed this diet. Supplemented tannin had no significant effect on fat concentration and changes in fatty acid profile in milk. All supplemented diets did not affect protein concentration or composition, nitrogen concentration, or casein to total protein ratio of the resulting milk.

The dynamics of non-esterified fatty acid (NEFA) metabolism in lactating dairy cows requires quantification if we are to understand how dietary treatments and disease influence changes in body condition (adipose reserves) and the production of milk fat. We present here a novel compartmental model that employs the pattern of plasma glucose concentrations to predict the dynamic changes that occur in plasma NEFA concentrations during an intravenous glucose tolerance test (IVGTT) in lactating dairy cows. The model was developed using data obtained from ten early-lactation, Holstein-Friesian cows given a standard IVGTT. The model described all of the major features of the NEFA response to an IVGTT; it was consistent with physiological processes and provided a number of parameters that can be used to quantify NEFA production and utilization. For all of the individual cows, all model parameters were well identified and usually had CV<10% of their estimated values. In the model, elevated plasma glucose concentrations cause an increase in the level of glucose in a remote compartment, which in turn suppresses the rate of entry of NEFA to the plasma compartment. The means (+/-sd) for the five adjustable parameters of the model were: rate of entry of NEFA to the plasma pool (SFFA) 183+/-71 [micromol l-1 min-1], rate of removal (oxidation, sequestration in adipose tissue and uptake by the mammary gland for milk production) of NEFA from the plasma pool (KFFA) 0.140+/-0.047 [min-1], a threshold parameter (gs) representing a plasma glucose concentration above which elevated levels of plasma glucose result in entry of glucose into a 'remote' or inaccessible glucose compartment, 3.30+/-0.52 [mmol/l], a rate constant (K) describing the movement of plasma glucose (above gs) into a remote compartment 0.063+/-0.033 [min-1] and a parameter Phi which is a Michaelis Menten type affinity constant which modulates the extent to which remote glucose inhibits the provision of NEFA to the plasma pool, 0.812+/-0.276 [mmol/l]. It is concluded that the model is suitable to describe NEFA kinetics in lactating dairy cows and it may have application in other species.

The dynamics of non-esterified fatty acid (NEFA) metabolism in lactating dairy cows requires quantification if we are to understand how dietary treatments and disease influence changes in body condition (adipose reserves) and the production of milk fat. Recently, Thomaseth & Pavan (2003) presented a compartmental model (Thomaseth model), which employs the pattern of plasma insulin concentrations in humans to predict the dynamic changes that occur in the plasma concentrations of glucose and NEFA during an intravenous glucose tolerance test (IVGTT). The Thomaseth model, or at least a similar model, could have potential application to the field of energy metabolism in ruminants because it would enable the estimation of parameters that describe the rates of whole body disposition of glucose, and the production and utilization of NEFA. In this study we investigated the suitability of the Thomaseth model to describe NEFA and glucose kinetics in 10 lactating Holstein-Friesian cows given a standard IVGTT in early lactation. The Thomaseth model described the general pattern of the NEFA response and, in particular, described the downward-slope and nadir in NEFA concentrations reasonably well. However, it failed to describe the initial latency period (the period before NEFA concentrations decline precipitously), and it could not describe terminal 'rebound' plateau in NEFA concentration. Because of these inherent problems, the parameters of the Thomaseth model cannot be considered to provide accurate estimates of rates of NEFA production or utilization. It is concluded that the Thomaseth model is not suitable for describing NEFA kinetics in lactating dairy cows.

The Dairy Herd Improvement Fund of Victoria recently identified a requirement for a simple and inexpensive in-line sampler to enable dairy farmers to collect representative milk samples for counting somatic cells. We found that the currently available simple in-line milk samplers, when connected to standard 35 ml collection vessels, terminate sampling early in a milking, and thus provide samples that are unrepresentative of the whole milking. We showed that cell count during a milking varies greatly, tending to be high for the first 1-21. Analyses of resulting samples will thus tend to overestimate cell counts if samplers are used in their traditional way. We found greater sampling rates in high-line compared with low-line milking systems, and consequently developed modified samplers suitable for both situations. Our samplers utilize low sampling rates (approximately 1-3%) and large collection vessels (450 ml). Compared with currently available simple in-line samplers, our type of sampler provided milk samples considerably more representative of the entire milking for the majority of cows. In conjunction with subsampling, they provided samples of appropriate size (12.5 ml minimum to 25 ml maximum) for testing fat, protein, lactose and cell count. Cell count results indicated that errors associated with the use of currently available simple in-line samplers could frequently be > 200%. In contrast, we found that use of our samplers gave an estimate for cell count that was only slightly higher (mean 20%) than that from samples collected by an approved Tru-Test sampler.

The requirement for accuracy in the counting of somatic cells in milk has been increased by the use of this measurement as a basis of payment for milk. This paper reports on several factors that can substantially affect efficiency of staining and cell detection in various types of fluorescent cell counters. These mordant factors include sample age, chemical preservative, other sample preservation treatments and reagent properties. Experiments were conducted in several laboratories with Fossomatic 215 and 360 cell counting instruments to measure the effect of these mordant factors on both cell fluorescence and cell count. Counting efficiency was as low as 20% for some instruments counting some particular samples, depending upon the combination of adverse mordant factors. The problem of poor counting efficiency was also not detected by calibration samples that had more favourable mordant treatments applied. The adverse mordant factors were shown to reduce the intensity of fluorescence of cells for all instruments. We suggest that a significant reduction in counting efficiency due to these adverse mordant factors is most likely to occur when the particular instrument already has an intrinsic inability to separate cell fluorescence properly from background noise. This paper also discusses quality control samples, the impact of various factors on discriminator curves and the use of appropriate measures to maintain good calibration adjustment.