The Effect of Supplementation of Rumen-Protected Choline on Reproductive and Productive Performances of Dairy Cows

We aimed to evaluate the effects of organic herbal preparations containing rumen-protected choline (RPC) in dairy cow milk’s BHB and progesterone (P4) concentration changes, reproduction, and production performances. Cows were divided into the following two groups: The CHOL (n = 60) cow diet was supplemented with 10 g/day RPC from 20 days pre-calving to 20 days post-calving, and CONT (n = 60) were fed a conventional diet. BHB and P4 concentrations were measured at 5–64 DIM and 21–64 DIM, respectively, with DelPro 4.2. BHB was lower in the CHOL group at 5–64 DIM than CONT p > 0.05. The first post-calving P4 peak, p < 0.001, was determined earlier in the CHOL group, and the P4 profile during 21–64 DIM was similar, p > 0.05. The insemination rate was lower, and the interval between calvings was shorter. The first insemination time was earlier in the CHOL group, p < 0.05. Milk yield was higher in the CHOL group at 21–64 DIM, p > 0.05. The CHOL group had more fat in their milk at 31–60 DIM, p < 0.05. There were no significant differences in protein and SCC between the groups, p > 0.05. Based on our results, we concluded that the supplementation of RPC pre- and post-calving had statistically significant effects on the first peak of P4, and benefited the reproduction performances, milk yield, and milk fat during the early postpartum period

The effectiveness of fibrolytic enzymes and active yeast on improving reticulorumen pH in dairy cows

Exogenous fibrolytic enzymes (EFE) and yeast are feed supplements that improve forage digestion in rumen, but their influences on physical reticulorumen parameters are not well studied. This study was designed to evaluate the effect of the EFE:endo-β-xylanase (37x104 U/cow/day), endocellulase (45x104 U/cow/day), endo-β-glucanase (12x104U/cow/day), and active yeast – Saccharomyces cerevisiae CNCM-1077 (10x109CFU/cow/day) supplements on reticulorumen pH (RpH) and temperature (RT) in dairy cows. Nine Lithuanian Red cows were allocated into three groups (3 cows/group): control group (C) – farm diet without supplementation, enzyme group (E) – farm diet supplemented with EFE, enzyme and active yeast group (EY) – farm diet supplemented with EFE and active yeast. The feeding trial lasted for 60 d. All cows were equipped with reticuloruminal telemetric pH and temperature sensor device. Data provided by the device were used to calculate the mean RpH (RpH/24h), the mean minimal RpH (minRpH/24h) and mean of the time that RpH was below the threshold value of 6.0 (RpH<6.0/24h, min.). The highest RpH/24h (6.37±0.22) was observed in group EY and it was by 1.62% (p<0.05) and 1.27% (p<0.001) higher as compared with groups E and C, respectively. Also minRpH/24h (6.24±0.24) was highest in group EY and values were by 0.63% (p<0.001) and 0.65% (p<0.001) higher as compared with groups C and E, respectively. The shortest duration of RpH<6.0/24h, was recorded in group EY, and it was by 57.76% (p<0.05) and 47.87% shorter as compared with groups C and E, respectively. In conclusion, feed supplementation with EFE and Saccharomyces cerevisiae CNCM-1077 had beneficial effect on RpH