Body score of dairy cows.

Body CS measurement, based on a standardized technique leading to a numerical assessment, provides a cheap, easily applied measure of fatness in cattle and hence an immediate absolute appraisal that avoids the problems of live weight. The scale is limited and the divisions are coarse. The nutritional significance of CS/C has received considerable research attention. Higher CS/C is associated with smaller feed intake in early lactation, increased loss of CS, increased fat content of milk, especially when the general content is low, and slightly reduced milk protein content. Evidence on the effect of CS/C on subsequent MY is conflicting: some experiments have shown a benefit from increased CS/C but others have not. This outcome may depend on the plane of nutrition after calving. CS/C values > 3.25 have led to small decreases in MY. During lactation, CS responds to change in plane of nutrition in parallel with MY, milk protein content, and live weight. Some but not all the available evidence indicates that the fall in CS in early lactation may be limited physiologically, and subsequent recovery of body reserves may be characterized by a compensatory partition of nutrients to body as well as a response to increased plane of nutrition relative to requirements for milk production. Further investigation is required regarding application of CS to mid to late lactation, particularly partition of nutrients between milk and body, to multiple lactations, to health and fertility, and to CS in relation to the cow potential.

Effect of amount and composition of feed given over three lactations on the performance of the dairy cow.

Eighty-nine autumn-calving first calf and adult Friesian cows participated in an experiment on the effect of feeding over three lactations on milk production and live weight change. Fixed daily allowances of digestible energy (DE) formed two of the treatments (h, H; moderate, M). Diets of similar composition were used for both treatments and rations were weighed daily for each cow. The cows within these treatments were re-randomized to H or M at second and again at third parturition on experiment. A further treatment (ALF), applied continuously over three lactations, consisted of the M allowance of compound feed, weighed daily for each cow, plus as lib. weighed, group-fed forages. The ALF animals were randomized for each lactation into two groups both of which received the same total compound feed allowance over the first 26 weeks of lactation. For one group (Flat) equal amounts were given daily whilst for the other group (Step) the daily amount was decreased monthly. After week 26 equal rations were fed. Hay, maize silage and grass silage formed the forages in winter. Grass, cut for the H and M groups but grazed for the ALF group, provided the summer forage. Energy intakes covered some 80-110% of requirements. Yields of milk and of milk solids responded similarly for both parties. In the first experimental lactation, treatment H led to greater yields compared with M. H also led to smaller losses of live weight in early lactation, equal gains in mid lactation, and smaller gains in late lactation and the dry period, compared with M. Extension of H into a second lactation increased the advantage in milk and solids yields observed in the first lactation on experiment. Recovery of body reserves on treatment M continued. Treatment H in a second lactation on experiment after M in the first lactation led to even greater compensatory gains in live weight at the expense of milk production. There was no effect in the third lactation of experiment of treatments applied in the first lactation. Treatments H and M applied factorially over lactations 2 and 3 gave the same pattern of treatment effects as in lactations 1 and 2. Treatment ALF broadly supported the same milk yield and live weight change as treatment H but improved fat, protein and lactose yields. Within treatment ALF, Flat and Step distribution of compound led to equal performance. Multiple lactation effects of ALF equalled those of H. The effects on milk composition of H compared with M treatment were variable. In general an advantage accrued to ALF over M but without long term effects.

Feeding frequency for lactating cows: effects on rumen fermentation and blood metabolites and hormones.

1. The present paper reports the effects on rumen fermentation and plasma metabolites and hormones of giving fixed rations of hay and high-cereal concentrates at different meal frequencies to lactating cows. In Expt 1 the total ration was given in two and twenty-four meals daily and in Expts 2-4 the concentrates were given in two and five or six meals and the hay in two meals daily. The diets contained 600-920 g concentrates/kg. 2. In Expt 1, minimum rumen pH was higher but mean pH was lower when cows were given their ration in twenty-four meals/d rather than two meals/d. 3. In all the experiments, the effects of increased meal frequency on the molar proportions of rumen volatile fatty acids (VFA) were small and not significant, although there was a general tendency for the proportion of acetic acid to increase and that of propionic acid to fall. Increasing the proportion of concentrates in the diet reduced the proportion of acetic acid and increased the proportions of propionic and n-valeric acids. 4. In Expt 3, more frequent feeding was found to reduce the concentration of non-esterified fatty acids in the blood, but changes in other metabolites were small and not significant. Increasing the proportion of concentrates in the diet reduced the concentrations of acetic acid and 3-hydroxybutyric acid and increased the concentrations of propionic acid and glucose. 5. The mean daily concentration of insulin in the blood was reduced by more frequent feeding of the higher-concentrate diet but not of the lower-concentrate diet. The concentration of glucagon also tended to fall with more frequent feeding. Increasing the proportion of concentrates in the diet increased the concentration of insulin. 6. More frequent feeding reduced the depression in milk-fat concentration caused by feeding the low-roughage diets. About three-quarters of the variation in milk-fat concentration could be related to changes in rumen VFA proportions, but the relations for the two meal frequencies had different intercepts although similar curves. The results suggest that milk-fat depression on low-roughage diets with twice-daily feeding was due to a change in rumen VFA proportions accompanied by elevated plasma insulin concentrations. The improvement in milk-fat concentration due to more frequent feeding could be explained partly by the small change in rumen VFA proportions and partly by a reduction in mean plasma insulin concentrations, but these mechanisms did not fully account for the milk-fat responses observed.

Feeding frequency for lactating cows: effects on digestion, milk production and energy utilization.

The results are reported of four feeding experiments in which lactating cows were given fixed rations of hay and high-cereal concentrates at different meal frequencies. In Expt 1 the total ration was given in two and twenty-four meals daily and in Expts 2-4, the concentrates were given in two and five or six meals and the hay was given twice daily. The diets contained 600-900 g concentrate/kg. In all the experiments, more frequent feeding of these low-roughage diets reduced milk fat depression and increased milk fat yield. In each experiment the increase was greater with the diet containing the lower proportion of hay. There was no significant effect on milk yield, the protein or lactose contents of the milk or live-weight gain. Digestibility of dry matter, organic matter and energy was increased in one of the experiments but not in two others in which it was measured. More frequent feeding was calculated to increase the net energy secreted in milk and there was a tendency for it to increase the net energy in live-weight gain with diets containing 600 or 700 g concentrate/kg but to decrease it with diets containing 800 or 900 g concentrate/kg. These results are discussed in relation to theories of energy partition in lactating cows. It is concluded that at fixed feed intakes, the main response to increased meal frequency is likely to be a reduction in milk fat depression and that this will be confined to diets containing not more than about 200 g modified acid-detergent fibre/kg dry matter.

A note on the lactation performance of twin-bearing cows.

Seven pairs of cows were chosen at parturition. In each pair, 1 member had had a twin pregnancy (T) and the other was a comparable cow with a single calf pregnancy (S). All cows were offered the same amount of feed over the first 28 weeks of lactation. In early lactation, intakes were equal; in mid-lactation the T group ate more. The T cows had a lower peak yield of milk than the S cows, but rates of decline in yield in mid-lactation were equal for the 2 groups. Lactose concentrations in the milk were equal throughout lactation, but the fat and protein concentrations were greater for the T group in early lactation. The T group yielded smaller amounts of milk solids. The T group lost less weight in early lactation and gained more weight subsequently. Three of the T group, but only 1 of the S group, did not conceive during the test lactation.

The effect of a low-protein ration on milk yield and plasma metabolites in Friesian heifers during early lactation.

1. Sixteen first-calf Friesian heifers were used in a continous treatment design experiment. For 2 weeks after calving they were given a 750 g concentrate, 250 g hay/kg ration with 169 g crude protein (nitrogen X 6.25; CP)/kg dry matter (DM). They were then divided into two groups of eight and given a high-protein (223 g CP/kg DM) or low-protein (107 g CP/kg DM) ration at the rate of 10.8 kg concentrate + 3.6 kg hay for 8 weeks. 2. Milk yield and composition, live weight and blood composition were monitored throughout. A digestibility trial was carried out with six animals on each treatment. 3. The low protein ration reduced DM, organic matter, energy and fibre digestibility significantly (P less than 0.001) so that intakes of digestible energy were not equal and the low-protein group lost more weight than the high-protein group. 4. Milk yield and the fat content of milk were lower in heifers given the low-protein ration (P less than 0.01). The lactose content of the milk was not affected and protein content only slightly reduced (P less than 0.01) by low-protein feeding. When the heifers were all changed onto an adequate protein (190 g CP/kg DM) ration in mid-lactation, those which had previously been under-fed protein appeared to recover in milk yield to the point they might have been expected to reach is given an adequate-protein ration throughout. 5. Concentrations of urea (P less than 0.001) and albumin (P less than 0.05) were reduced by underfeeding protein, but albumin concentration was affected less by diet than by stage of lactation. Blood concentrations of total protein, glucose, sodium, potassium, calcium, inorganic phosphate, iron, copper, haemoglobin and packed cell volume were unaffected by treatment. Blood magnesium concentration was slightly lower (P less than 0.01) with low-protein feeding.

Interspecies study on the effect of perphenazine on milk yield and composition.

The effects on lactation of perphenazine, a tranquillizer which increases the level of prolactin in the blood, have been studied in cows, goats, guinea-pigs and rabbits. The drug caused a significant depression of milk yield in cows, goats and rabbits, but was without effect on the milk yield of guinea-pigs. It seems probable that the inhibitory effects on lactation were due to the actions of the drug on appetite and behaviour. It is concluded that perphenazine, because of its other actions, is not a suitable agent for studying the physiological effects of increased levels of endogenous prolactin.