Effects of partial replacement of grass silage with maize silage on feed intake, enteric methane emissions and milk production in dairy cows in northern conditions

Bioacoustic tools for enhancing animal management and productivity: effects of recorded calf vocalizations on milk production in dairy cows

The present study investigated the effects of substitution of chopped lucerne hay (LH) for maize silage on feed intake, rumen pH and fermentation, digestibility, milk production and feed efficiency of dairy cows. Fifteen Holstein dairy cows in early lactation (37 ± 10 days in milk) were randomly assigned to three dietary treatments in a completely randomised design. The experiment lasted for 80 days, with 10 days of adaptation and 70 days of data collection. Treatment diets consisted of 60% concentrate and 40% forage, comprising 30 : 10 (MS30), 20 : 20 (MS20) or 10 : 30 (MS10) of maize silage (MS) to LH ratio (MS : LH). Cows were fed ad libitum as total mixed ration. Water was added daily to adjust the moisture content of the feed to be similar across diets. Decreasing the ratio of MS : LH resulted in linear and quadratic decreases of DM intake and physically effective neutral detergent fibre, without affecting apparent digestibility in the total digestive tract. Decreasing MS : LH also linearly reduced total chewing time and tended to reduced chewing index (min/kg DM intake), but had limited effects on rumen pH and fermentation characteristics. Increasing the substitution of LH for MS decreased milk production (33.1, 31.7, and 29.8 kg/day for MS30, MS20, and MS10, respectively), and tended (P = 0.06) to decrease 4% fat-corrected milk and fat yield. However, milk content of protein (2.70%, 2.77% and 2.77%) and fat improved, and tended to improve by decreasing the MS : LH ratio, respectively. The efficiency of milk production, expressed as either milk yield/kg DM intake or 4% fat-corrected milk/kg DM intake, was not affected by the treatments. Results indicated that under the current feeding conditions, decreasing the ratio of MS : LH was not recommended to maintain milk production and DM intake.

Dairy cow's milk is a primary commodity in various countries and increasing milk production in dairy cows is crucial. Clitoria ternatea has the potential to enhance milk production in dairy cows. This research aims to analyze C. ternatea's ability to induce milk production in dairy cows by targeting the DRD2 protein. The compounds within C. ternatea were screened for drug-likeness, toxicity, physicochemical properties, and membrane permeability parameters. The DRD2 protein in dairy cattle was modeled using homology modeling. The interaction stability between C. ternatea compounds and DRD2 was analyzed through molecular docking and dynamic using AutoDock Vina and Webgro. The study results revealed that among the 18 compounds, 5 passed the drug-likeness screening: citronellal, alpha-terpinolene, 15-methyxypaysine, allyl-crotyl-zinc, and 9,12-octadecadiynoic. These 5 compounds exhibited low toxicity and demonstrated easy penetration of lipid membranes. Molecular docking results indicated that citronellal and alpha-terpinolene had the lowest binding energy values and were bound to the inhibitor's side. Molecular dynamic simulations also confirmed the stability of the interaction between citronellal and alpha-terpinolene with DRD2. In conclusion, this research suggests that C. ternatea can potentially increase milk production in dairy cows by inhibiting the DRD2 protein, primarily through citronellal and alpha-terpinolene.

The effect of calcareous marine algae, with or without marine magnesium oxide, and sodium bicarbonate on rumen pH and milk production in mid-lactation dairy cows

The Effect of Silage and Concentrate Type on Intake Behavior, Rumen Function, and Milk Production in Dairy Cows in Early and Late Lactation

An adequate feed intake is an important prerequisite to realize high milk production in dairy cows, especially during grazing. The analysis of feed intake behaviour can assist in understanding variation in daily intake and in improving its prediction. Indeed, our results indicated that differences in feed intake behaviour were more pronounced when varying the type of roughage than when varying the type of concentrate. Dry matter intake (DMI) was reduced when a ration high in grass silage was fed, but milk production was only numericaly affected. Grazing management might result in increased herbage intake and higher intake of nutrients from herbage by improved nutritional composition of herbage. In the first grazing experiment, herbage DMI was indeed increased when allocating cows daily (1Da) to a new grazing plot compared to every four days (4D) allocation, but only when pasture mass on offer and sward surface height (SSH) were high. Grazing time increased numerically and ruminating time decreased between days in the 4D treatment, coinciding with differences in rumen fermentation characteristics and milk composition. Milk yield was greater in 1Da than in 4D, but milk fatty acid (FA) composition, potentially influencing human health, showed hardly any difference. In a subsequent experiment, herbage DMI was again greater when allocating twice daily (2D) compared to once daily (1Db), especially when SSH was high. Grazing behaviour was more equally distributed in 1Db than in 2D and milk yield was increased in 2D compared to 1Db at high SSH, but as before milk FA composition hardly differed between treatment. The last grazing experiment aimed to take advantage of the higher sugar contents of grass in the afternoon than in the morning. It showed that grazing behaviour and herbage intake were similar between morning (MA) and afternoon allocation (AA), but cows receiving a fresh plot in the afternoon had a longer evening meal than cows receiving a fresh plot in the morning. This, in combination with differences in diurnal chemical composition of the grass between treatments probably caused higher intake of sugars in AA, resulting in a higher milk fat content. However, milk production remained unaffected. In conclusion, the results of this thesis indicate that short-term feed intake behaviour is related to DMI and therefore may be a helpful tool in optimizing DMI and milk production in high-production dairy cows. Increased pasture allocation frequency improves intake and milk yield in grazing dairy cows, especially when offered SSH is high enough. In intensive stripgrazing systems, reallocation of dairy cows following afternoon milking instead of morning milking has no added value.

Background: In the maintenance of dairy cows, feed must be considered because it can affect the productivity of dairy cows, including milk production and quality. Purpose: to determine the effect of giving beer dregs and rejected bread on milk and milk fat production. Methods: The method used is primary data collection, recording milk and milk fat production for two weeks to determine the difference between giving beer dregs and rejected bread to milk and milk fat production. Results: The results showed that providing beer dregs and rejected bread to dairy cows could increase milk production and fat content. Cows as control treatment had fat content with an average of 3.95%, and cows given beer dregs had fat content with an average of 4.61%. Cows given rejected bread had fat content with an average of 5.01%. For the milk production of dairy cows as a control treatment, an average of 11.8 liters/day, the average production of dairy cows fed with beer dregs is 13.3 liters/day, and the production of dairy cows given rejected bread is an average of 14 liters/day. Conclusions: The conclusion that can be obtained is that the provision of beer dregs and rejected bread as additional feed has a significant effect on increasing milk production and milk fat content of dairy cows.

Effects of maturity and harvest season of grass-clover silage and of forage-to-concentrate ratio on milk production of dairy cows

Feed intake and milk production in dairy cows fed different grass and legume species: a meta-analysis

Effect of butaphosphan and cyanocobalamin on postpartum metabolism and milk production in dairy cows

Paratuberculosis, or Johne's disease (JD), is suspected to decrease the milk production in dairy cows. The objective of the study was to compare the individual cow's milk production on test day between milk-ELISA, JD-test positive and negative cows and to evaluate the relationship between breed and JD milk test results.

The effect of dietary fatty acid supplementation on milk production, milk composition and plasma constituents in dairy cows was examined. Dietary fatty acids including mainly palmitic acid and stearic acid were given to cows from 2 weeks before and 8 weeks after parturition. Weekly gain of daily milk production was increased gradually during early lactation period and reached a plateau at 4 weeks after parturition. Weekly gain of daily milk production in lactating cows received dietary fatty acids was significantly higher than that of cows given a control diet alone. Although milk lactose concentration was slightly decreased by dietary fatty acid supplementation, milk fat and protein were not significantly influenced by dietary fatty acid supplementation. Dietary fatty acids did not affect plasma concentrations of triglyceride, non-esterified fatty acids, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and glucose during postpartum. It is suggested that dietary fatty acid supplementation has the potency to enhance energy balance and improve milk yield without any adverse effects on milk composition.

Responses of milk production of dairy cows to jugular infusions of a mixture of essential amino acids with or without exclusion leucine or arginine.

In modern dairy systems, sustained milk production over the lifetime of a cow depends critically on maintaining reproductive efficiency across repeated lactation cycles. However, repeated lactation and advancing parity impose cumulative metabolic and inflammatory stress that often compromises fertility and shortens productive lifespan. Increasing evidence suggests that immune dysregulation contributes to parity-associated reproductive decline, raising the possibility that sustained milk production requires adaptive immune regulation. We hypothesized that cows achieving reproductive longevity exhibit parity-dependent immune remodeling that supports continued reproductive function and extended milk production. To test this hypothesis, we profiled blood transcriptomes from 131 Holstein cows spanning parities 1-9. Analysis of 17 422 expressed genes identified six distinct parity-associated expression trajectories, revealing coordinated transcriptomic remodeling with increasing reproductive history. Differential expression analysis identified 1 405 parity-associated genes enriched in immune- and stress-related pathways, including MAPK and Rap1 signaling. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis further identified immune-regulatory modules strongly correlated with parity and key reproductive indicators, suggesting a central role of immune adaptation in sustaining reproductive efficiency. Machine learning analysis of 256 genes in significantly enriched pathways with P-adjusted < 0.05 prioritized PDE4C, APLN, and CDH15 as potential key predictors of reproductive persistence. Integration with co-expression networks demonstrated that these genes may function as highly connected hub nodes within immune- and stress-responsive modules. Collectively, these results indicate that coordinated immune signaling networks are associated with reproductive persistence and thereby contribute to extended milk production in dairy cows. This study provides molecular insight into the immune mechanisms underlying productive longevity and identifies candidate biomarkers with potential applications in genomic selection and precision herd management.

Effect of 17β-estradiol on milk production, hormone secretion, and mammary gland gene expression in dairy cows