Requirements for zero energy balance of nonlactating, pregnant dairy cows fed fresh autumn pasture are greater than currently estimated

K, Mandok; Kay, J.K.; Greenwood, S.L.; Edwards, G. R.; Roche, J.R.

doi:10.3168/jds.2012-6280

Cited by 10 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Blood was sampled 3 monthly to ensure metabolic indices of health were within normal ranges (Gribbles Veterinary Pathology, Hamilton, New Zealand). Following the completion of lactation, nonlactating cows grazed pasture and were offered a mix of pasture silage, corn silage, and palm kernel expeller to allow for cow maintenance and development of the gravid uterus (Mandok et al, 2013: average DMI = 8.0 ± 1.05 kg DM/d).…”

Section: Approach To Establish Treatment Groupsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of precalving body condition score and prepartum feeding level on production, reproduction, and health parameters in pasture-based transition dairy cows

Roche

Meier

Heiser

et al. 2015

Journal of Dairy Science

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Precalving feeding level alters postcalving energy balance, dry matter intake, the liver and adipose tissue transcriptome, hepatic lipidosis, and the risk of metabolic diseases in both high-production cows consuming total mixed rations and moderate-production cows grazing pasture. We hypothesized that the reported benefits of a controlled restriction before calving are dependent on precalving body condition score (BCS): low BCS animals would not benefit from reduced feeding levels precalving, but high BCS cows would have metabolic and immunomodulatory profiles indicative of an improved health status. One hundred sixty-one days before calving, 150 cows were allocated randomly to 1 of 6 treatment groups (n = 25) in a 2 × 3 factorial arrangement: 2 precalving BCS categories (4.0 and 5.0; based on a 10-point scale: BCS4 and BCS5, respectively) and 3 levels of energy intake during the 3 wk preceding calving (75, 100, and 125% of estimated requirements). Cows in the BCS4 and BCS5 groups were managed through late lactation to ensure that target calving BCS was achieved at dry off. Cows were then fed to maintain this BCS target until 3 wk before expected calving date, at which point they were managed within their allotted precalving energy intake treatments by offering different allowances of fresh pasture/cow per day. Milk production, body weight, and BCS were measured weekly; blood was sampled weekly before and after calving and on d 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 relative to calving. Aspirated plasma was assayed for nonesterified fatty acids, β-hydroxybutyrate, total protein, albumin, cholesterol, haptoglobin, IL-1β, IL-6, total antioxidant capacity, and reactive oxygen species. Liver was sampled wk 1, 2, and 4 postcalving for triacylglycerol analysis. Results confirm that precalving BCS and precalving feeding level have both independent and interdependent effects on production and health characteristics of transition dairy cows. Irrespective of precalving BCS, a controlled restriction precalving reduced the net release of nonesterified fatty acids from adipose tissue postpartum and increased plasma calcium concentrations, reducing the risk of milk fever. Fatter cows produced more milk but lost more BCS postcalving and had greater blood β-hydroxybutyrate concentrations and increased hepatic lipidosis. In comparison, after calving, indicators of reduced immune competence were accentuated in BCS4 cows subjected to a feed restriction before calving, probably increasing the risk of infectious diseases. It would appear from these results that optimally conditioned cows will benefit from a short-term (2-3 wk) controlled feed restriction (75-90% of requirements), whereas cows in less than optimal condition should be fed to requirements before calving.

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Section: Approach To Establish Treatment Groupsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of precalving body condition score and prepartum feeding level on production, reproduction, and health parameters in pasture-based transition dairy cows

Roche

Meier

Heiser

et al. 2015

Journal of Dairy Science

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“…Those authors concluded that an increase in internal organ mass and feed intake, as well as a decrease in BCS, can be reasons for the increased ME m in high-yielding dairy cows. In fact, it has been reported that recommended ME requirements for zero energy balance in cows fed fresh pasture were too low (Mandok et al, 2013). Currently, precise information about additional energy costs under pasture-based conditions is not available.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several studies (Agnew and Yan, 2000;Gruber et al, 2007;Mandok et al, 2013) suggest that energy requirements for maintenance are underestimated, and not merely in pasture-based production systems. A higher proportion of body protein mass, a higher metabolic rate due to greater production in the modern high genetic dairy cow, rations with increased fiber concentration, and the greater physical efforts of grazing cattle were discussed as possible sources of increased EE or ME m .…”

Section: Estimation Of Ee Over 24 H Under Grazing Conditionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The energy expenditure of 2 Holstein cow strains in an organic grazing system

Thanner

Dohme‐Meier

Görs

et al. 2014

Journal of Dairy Science

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Until recently, measurements of energy expenditure (EE; herein defined as heat production) in respiration chambers did not account for the extra energy requirements of grazing dairy cows on pasture. As energy is first limiting in most pasture-based milk production systems, its efficient use is important. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to compare EE, which can be affected by differences in body weight (BW), body composition, grazing behavior, physical activity, and milk production level, in 2 Holstein cow strains. Twelve Swiss Holstein-Friesian (H CH ; 616 kg of BW) and 12 New Zealand Holstein-Friesian (H NZ ; 570 kg of BW) cows in the third stage of lactation were paired according to their stage of lactation and kept in a rotational, full-time grazing system without concentrate supplementation. After adaption, the daily milk yield, grass intake using the alkane double-indicator technique, nutrient digestibility, physical activity, and grazing behavior recorded by an automatic jaw movement recorder were investigated over 7 d. Using the 13 C bicarbonate dilution technique in combination with an automatic blood sampling system, EE based on measured carbon dioxide production was determined in 1 cow pair per day between 0800 to 1400 h. The H CH were heavier and had a lower body condition score compared with H NZ , but the difference in BW was smaller compared with former studies. Milk production, grass intake, and nutrient digestibility did not differ between the 2 cow strains, but H CH grazed for a longer time during the 6-h measurement period and performed more grazing mastication compared with the H NZ . No difference was found between the 2 cow strains with regard to EE (291 ± 15.6 kJ) per kilogram of metabolic BW, mainly due to a high between-animal variation in EE. As efficiency and energy use are important in sustainable, pasture-based, organic milk production systems, the determining factors for EE, such as methodology, genetics, physical activity, grazing behavior, and pasture quality, should be investigated and quantified in more detail in future studies.

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“…This may have been due to an underestimation of the maintenance ME requirement for the dry cows. Mandok, Kay, Greenwood, Edwards, and Roche () conducted a study to estimate the maintenance cost of 52 nonlactating, pregnant dairy cows in NZ. This showed a daily maintenance requirement of 0.94 MJ ME/kg LWT 0.75 rather than the 0.55 MJ ME/kg LWT 0.75 from Nicol and Brookes (), which has been widely used for estimating the intake requirements of pregnant, nonlactating pregnant cows.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This may have been due to an underestimation of the maintenance ME requirement for the dry cows. Mandok, Kay, Greenwood, Edwards, and Roche (2013) Notes. NS: not significant.…”

Section: Intake Body Condition Gain and Liveweight Gainmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of kale cultivar and sowing date on dry‐matter intake, crop utilization, liveweight gain and body condition score gain of pregnant, nonlactating dry dairy cows in winter in New Zealand

Cheng

Groves

Ruiter

et al. 2018

Grass and Forage Science

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An outdoor grazing study on kale was conducted with pregnant, nonlactating (dry) dairy cows over a 42‐day winter grazing period commencing 9 June 2008. Kale treatments consisted of two kale cultivars varying in leaf:stem proportion (“Regal,” a leafy variety and “Caledonian,” a stemmy variety) and two sowing dates (8 November and 15 December). Measurements were made for dry‐matter (DM) utilization, apparent DM intake, liveweight gain and changes in body condition score (BCS) for a total of 120 cows allocated to three replicate groups of the four factorial treatments. Cows were offered a daily allowance of 10 kg DM/cow of kale and 2.2 kg DM/cow of straw. Pregrazing DM yield was higher for kale sown in November (16,517 kg DM/ha) than December (13,867 kg DM/ha), but was unaffected by cultivar (average 15,192 kg DM/ha). “Regal” kale had a higher percentage of leaf compared with “Caledonian” (33.6% vs. 25.6%), lower content of NDF (32.4% vs. 34.1%), but similar metabolizable energy content (12.1 MJ/kg DM for both) in the whole plant. Despite the differences in pregrazing DM yield and forage quality among treatments, no differences were found in DM utilization (between 88.5% and 90.2%), apparent DM intake (between 9.4 and 9.6 kg DM/cow.day), liveweight gain (between 0.53 and 0.67 kg/cow.day) and BCS gain (between 0.43 and 0.46 unit/cow over 42 days). Manipulation of kale yield and quality through choice of cultivar and sowing date had no effect on the performance of pregnant, nonlactating dairy cows.

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Requirements for zero energy balance of nonlactating, pregnant dairy cows fed fresh autumn pasture are greater than currently estimated

Cited by 10 publications

References 26 publications

Effects of precalving body condition score and prepartum feeding level on production, reproduction, and health parameters in pasture-based transition dairy cows

Effects of precalving body condition score and prepartum feeding level on production, reproduction, and health parameters in pasture-based transition dairy cows

The energy expenditure of 2 Holstein cow strains in an organic grazing system

The effect of kale cultivar and sowing date on dry‐matter intake, crop utilization, liveweight gain and body condition score gain of pregnant, nonlactating dry dairy cows in winter in New Zealand

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