Abstract
Thirty Danish Holstein cows were used to determine how cows in early lactation adapt to changes in protein to starch supply in order to manipulate metabolism to combat physiological imbalance. During weeks 4 through 6 of lactation, 10 cows were fed either a high protein to starch ratio (high) diet, 10 cows were fed a low protein to starch ratio (low) diet while 10 others continued on the control diet. During weeks 7 through 9 of lactation, all cows returned to the control diet. The diets were formulated to consist of 15.0%, 18.6% and 22.2% crude protein and 13.3%, 7.5% and 1.7% of starch for the low, control and high diets, respectively. Besides milk urea nitrogen, no other production or metabolic parameters were affected by treatment. In conclusion, manipulation of dietary protein to starch is not a potential strategy to combat physiological imbalance during early lactation.
Submitted Version (
Free)
Published Version
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call