Nine pregnant, nonlactating cows were used to monitor liver triglycerides before and after parturition. Estimates were made of the contribution of depressed feed intake and parturition to plasma NEFA concentrations and development of fatty liver. Liver biopsies and plasma samples were obtained on d 19, 10, 5, 3, and 1 prior to calving and on d 1, 7, 14, and 21 after calving. Depression of DMI started on d 2 prior to calving and was 40% of DMI on d 3 prior to depression of feed intake. Elevation of plasma NEFA concentrations started prior to DMI depression, on d 5 before parturition. Liver triglyceride infiltration did not occur until the concentration of plasma NEFA was maximized on d 1 after calving. This result implicated the acute rise in NEFA at calving as a contributing factor to triglyceride accumulation in the liver. The increasing plasma glucose and decreasing plasma BHBA prior to calving may have reflected metabolic changes toward gluconeogenesis. Liver glycogen decreased 70% during the final 19 d prior to calving. Hepatic triglyceride infiltration (7.7% DM basis) on d 1 post-partum and duration of DMI depression prepartum were less severe than those observed in previous studies. Frequent liver biopsies did not affect DMI.

An experiment was conducted to determine the efficacy of 3 adsorbents, Solis (SO; Novus International Inc.), NovasilPlus (NOV; Engelhard Corp.), and MTB-100 (MTB; Alltech), in reducing aflatoxin (AF) M(1) concentrations in milk of dairy cows fed an AF-contaminated diet. Twelve early to mid lactation dairy cows averaging 163 d in milk were used in a 4 x 4 Latin square design with 3 replications. Cows were blocked by parity, body weight, and milk production and were provided ad libitum access to feed and water. Within each replicate, cows were randomly assigned to the 4 dietary treatments for 4 consecutive 7-d periods. Dietary treatments included AF [112 microg of AFB(1)/kg of diet dry matter (DM)]; AF + 0.56% SO; AF + 0.56% NOV; and AF + 0.56% MTB. Milk samples were collected on d 6 and 7 of each of the experimental periods. Feed intake, milk production, milk fat percentage, milk protein percentage, and linear somatic cell scores were not affected by dietary treatments and averaged 22.20 kg/d of DM, 33.87 kg/d, 3.78%, 2.95%, and 1.60, respectively, across all treatments. Transfer rates of AF from feed to milk averaged 2.65, 1.48, 1.42, and 2.52% for cows fed AF, AF + SO, AF + NOV, and AF + MTB, respectively. Daily AFM(1) excretion in milk averaged 66, 37, 35, and 63 microg/d for cows fed AF, AF + SO, AF + NOV, and AF + MTB, respectively. The addition of SO and NOV to the AF diet resulted in a significant reduction in milk AFM(1) concentrations (SO, 45%; NOV, 48%) and AFM(1) excretion (SO, 44%; NOV, 46%). In contrast, MTB was not effective in reducing milk AFM(1) concentrations (4%), AFM(1) excretion (5%), or AF transfer from feed to milk (2.52%). Results indicated that SO and NOV at 0.56% of the diet were effective in reducing milk AFM(1) concentrations in cows consuming a total mixed ration containing 112 microg of AFB(1)/kg of diet DM.

The objectives of our study were to evaluate the productive response to methionine supplementation in lactating dairy cows and to define a relationship between metabolizable Met (MP Met) intake and production. A database of 64 papers meeting the selection criteria was developed evaluating postruminally infused dl-methionine (9 papers with 18 control diets and 35 treatment comparisons), 2-hydroxy-4-methylthio butanoic acid (HMTBa) provided as either a liquid or Ca salt form (17 papers with 34 control diets and 46 treatment comparisons), Mepron (Evonik Industries, Essen, Germany; 18 papers with 35 control diets and 42 treatment comparisons), and Smartamine (Adisseo Inc., Antony, France; 20 papers with 30 control diets and 39 treatment comparisons). Dietary ingredients and their accompanying nutritional compositions as described in the reports were entered into the Cornell-Penn-Miner software to model the diets and to predict nutrients that were not reported in the original publication. Data were analyzed using a weighted analysis of response to supplementation compared with the intraexperiment control, as well as through a regression analysis to changing dietary MP Met. Data included in the analysis were from experiments published between 1970 and 2011 with cows supplemented with between 3.5 and 67.9 g of Met or its equivalent from HMTBa. Cows supplemented with Smartamine consumed more, whereas cows supplemented with Mepron consumed less DM compared with controls. Milk yield did not significantly respond to Met supplementation, although it tended to increase for cows supplemented with HMTBa and Mepron. Milk protein yield was increased due to supplementation from all sources or from infusion, and protein concentration was greater for all supplements or infusion of dl-Met, except for cows supplemented with HMTBa. Irrespective of Met source, milk protein yield increased 2.23 g of protein/g of MP Met until reaching the breakpoint. Milk fat yield was increased for Mepron and HMTBa, whereas milk fat concentration was increased for infused dl-Met and for cows supplemented with HMTBa. Based on regression analysis, response of milk fat yield to Met supplementation was not different for infused dl-Met, Mepron, and Smartamine (1.87 g of fat/g of MP Met), whereas the response to HMTBa was significantly greater at 5.38 g of fat/g of MP Met.

No abstract

White striping (WS) and woody breast (WB) are 2 poultry meat quality defects that affect the acceptance of raw breast fillets as well as properties of cooked and further processed products. The present study was intended to evaluate the incidence of these conditions in broilers at different ages and to compare the properties of fillets with different degrees of WS and WB. For this study, 1,920 birds were processed, at 6 and 9 wk of age, in a standard commercial inline processing system. After chilling, carcasses were deboned and butterfly fillets were collected and weighed. Individual fillets were scored for normal, moderate, severe, and very severe degrees of WS and WB, and for petechial hemorrhagic lesions (PHEM, 0 - no lesion to 2 - severe lesion). Representative fillets with NORM-WS/WB, SEV-WS, SEV-WB, and SEV-WS/WB were selected and stored at 4°C. After 24 h, fillet length, width, cranial height, and caudal height, as well as pH, color, and drip loss were recorded. There was an increase in incidence of severe and very severe WS and WB conditions at 9 wk compared to 6 wk of age. The relationship between fillet weight and the myopathies plateaued at 9 wk of age with more fillets showing a higher score. Mean PHEM scores were higher (P < 0.05) in SEV-WS, SEV-WB, and SEV-WS/WB compared to NORM-WS/WB birds, both at 6 and 9 weeks. NORM-WS/WB birds had lower (P < 0.05) live and breast weight, breast yield, and cranial and caudal heights, as well as b* value (yellowness) compared to SEV-WS/WB. NORM-WS/WB had lower (P < 0.05) pH while NORM-WS/WB and SEV-WS samples showed lower (P < 0.05) drip loss when compared to SEV-WB and SEV-WS/WB. The results from this study showed that the severe degrees of WS and WB are associated with heavier and older birds, and thicker breast fillets. Occurrence of severe degrees of WS and/or WB can affect various raw meat quality factors, mainly color and water holding capacity.