Frequency of maternal supplementation of energy and protein during late gestation modulates preweaning growth of their beef offspring

Abstract

This study evaluated the effects of decreasing the frequency of dried distillers grains (DDG) supplementation during third trimester of gestation on cow physiology and offspring preweaning growth. At 201 ± 7 days prepartum (day 0 of the study), 120 Brangus crossbred cows were stratified by body weight (BW = 543 ± 53 kg) and body condition score (BCS = 5.47 ± 0.73), and then assigned randomly to 1 of 20 bahiagrass (Paspalum notatum) pastures (6 cows and 4.7 ha/pasture). Treatments were randomly assigned to pastures (5 pastures/treatment) and consisted of cows offered no DDG supplementation (NOSUP) or precalving supplementation of DDG dry matter at 1 kg/cow daily (7X), 2.33 kg/cow every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (3X), or 7 kg/cow every Monday (1X) from day 0 to 77. All cows assigned to DDG supplementation received the same total amount of DDG dry matter (77 kg/cow) from day 0 to 77. All cow-calf pairs were managed similarly from day 77 until calf weaning (day 342). Supplementation frequency did not impact (P ≥ 0.16) any forage or cow reproduction data. Cow BCS on days 77, 140, and 342 did not differ among 1X, 3X, and 7X cows (P ≥ 0.29) but all supplemented cows, regardless of supplementation frequency, had greater BCS on days 77, 140, and 342 compared to NOSUP cows (P ≤ 0.04). Cows offered 1X supplementation had greater plasma concentrations of IGF-1 on days 35 and 140 compared to NOSUP, 3X and 7X cows (P ≤ 0.04), whereas 3X and 7X cows had greater plasma concentrations of IGF-1 on day 35 compared to NOSUP cows (P ≤ 0.005). Average plasma concentrations of glucose did not differ among 1X, 3X, and 7X cows (P ≥ 0.44), but all supplemented cows had greater plasma concentrations of glucose compared to NOSUP cows (P ≤ 0.05). Birth BW of the first offspring did not differ between 3X and 7X calves (P = 0.54) but both groups were heavier at birth compared to NOSUP calves (P ≤ 0.05). On day 342, calves born from 7X cows were the heaviest (P ≤ 0.05), whereas calves born from 1X and 3X cows had similar BW (P = 0.97) but both groups were heavier compared to calves born from NOSUP cows (P ≤ 0.05). In summary, decreasing the frequency of DDG supplementation, from daily to 1 or 3 times weekly, during third trimester of gestation of beef cows did not impact cow BCS but altered maternal plasma concentrations of IGF-1 and glucose, leading to reduced offspring preweaning growth.

Monensin supplementation during late gestation of beef cows alters maternal plasma concentrations of insulin-like growth factors 1 and 2 and enhances offspring preweaning growth

“…Herbage allowance from day 0 to 77 was always below the minimum threshold for ad libitum intake of warm-season forages (1.40 kg DM/kg of BW; Inyang et al, 2010 ), whereas forage IVDOM concentrations from days 0 to 77 and forage CP concentrations on day 77 were below the amount of TDN and CP required by beef cows during late gestation (53% TDN and 8.1% CP of DM; NASEM, 2016 ). Nevertheless, the amount of maternal supplemental protein and energy provided to SUP and SUPMO cows in the current study led to prepartum BCS gain and increased BCS at calving compared with NOSUP cows, agreeing with previous studies ( Moriel et al, 2020 ; Palmer et al, 2020 , 2022a ,b; Izquierdo et al, 2022 ). All cows were managed similarly from day 77 until calf weaning on day 325 and received same amount of molasses and urea supplementation from days 110 to 231.…”

“…All cows were managed similarly from day 77 until calf weaning on day 325 and received same amount of molasses and urea supplementation from days 110 to 231. However, postpartum BCS loss was greater for SUP and SUPMO cows, which was reported previously ( Moriel et al, 2020 ; Palmer et al, 2020 , 2022a ; Izquierdo et al, 2022 ) and can be attributed to the greater energy and protein requirements caused by their greater postpartum BCS compared with NOSUP cows.…”

“…Nonetheless, maternal treatment effects tended to be detected for the percentage of cows pregnant and calving their second offspring, which were both greater for SUP and SUPMO cows compared with NOSUP cows, likely attributed to the differences in BCS at calving and start of the breeding season among treatments. In previous studies, prepartum supplementation of protein and energy supplementation increased prepartum BCS of beef cows grazing warm-season grasses but did not impact their subsequent pregnancy percentage ( Moriel et al, 2020 ; Palmer et al 2020 , 2022a ,b; Izquierdo et al, 2022 ). The major difference between the current study and our previous studies is the resulting BCS of nonsupplemented cows at the time of calving.…”

“…Herbage mass, herbage allowance, and forage IVDOM and CP concentrations from days 0 to 77 did not differ among treatments, indicating that availability and nutritive value (and potentially forage DM intake) were not significantly impacted by the selected amount of supplemental protein and energy ( Moriel et al, 2020 ; Palmer et al, 2020 , 2022a ,b; Izquierdo et al, 2022 ) and monensin consumed ( Moriel et al, 2019 ; Oliveira et al, 2020 , 2021 ; Vendramini et al, 2018 ). As expected, NOSUP cows lost BCS during late gestation due to the limited herbage allowance and forage nutritive value not sufficiently meeting the increasing pregnancy-associated energy and protein requirements.…”

“…Increasing body condition score ( BCS ) of beef cows during the third trimester of gestation, via supplementation of energy and protein, provides an opportunity to modulate maternal circulating concentrations of hormones and metabolites essential for fetal growth, such as glucose and insulin-like growth factors 1 ( IGF-1 ) and 2 ( IGF-2 ; Bell et al, 2005 ; Sferruzzi-Perri et al, 2006 ), and enhance subsequent postnatal offspring growth ( Marques et al, 2016a ). The exact outcomes of maternal prepartum supplementation of protein and energy on beef offspring preweaning growth are variable ( Moriel et al, 2021 ) and dependent on multiple factors, including supplementation timing ( Palmer et al, 2022a ), frequency ( Izquierdo et al, 2022 ), carbohydrate type ( Palmer et al, 2022b ), and source of trace minerals source ( Marques et al, 2016b ). Studies evaluating the impacts of adding feed additives, such as ionophores, into prepartum supplementation of beef cows are limited ( Turner et al, 1980 ; Walker et al, 1980 ; Linneen et al, 2015 ), particularly for Bos indicus -influenced beef cows reared in tropical and subtropical environments ( Cooke et al, 2020 ).…”