The effect of feeding high levels of fish oil and additional vitamin E on intake, milk yield, composition and fatty acid content in high yielding dairy cows

Abstract

The COMA report on The Nutritional Aspects of Cardiovascular Disease (1994) recommended that the intake of long chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, including eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), by the UK population should double. EPA and DHA in the human diet are derived principally from oily fish. The aim of this experiment was to determine the effect of increasing levels of fish oil in the diet at two levels of vitamin E supplementation, on intake, milk production, the extent of uptake of EPA and DHA into milk fat at levels exceeding those investigated to date, and the effect of a dietary supplement of vitamin E on fatty acid content.