The effect of maternal nutritional restriction on fetal development and performance of offspring in beef cattle

Abstract

Health, growth efficiency and carcass quality are major considerations in beef production. The foundation for this is thought to be linked to fetal development. Maternal nutrition during pregnancy is one factor that can influence fetal development and offspring growth. However, its specific effects on postnatal growth of castrated calves (steers) raised for meat are not well understood. This review considers the nutritional requirements of pregnant cows and summarizes the effect of maternal nutritional restriction throughout gestation on calf growth. It also evaluates the different developmental stage at which nutritional restriction will have the greatest impact. It is found that even though early gestation is a critical period for the formation of the placenta and the initial organ development, the fetus has the ability to compensate for developmental restrictions resulting from maternal malnutrition during this period. Meanwhile, during mid-to late gestation maternal nutritional restriction has the greatest impact on offspring performance. Maternal malnutrition during this key period can reduce birth weight, which is strongly correlated to the lifetime performance of steers in terms of health and growth efficiency. Proper nutritional management of cows is essential throughout gestation, but additional attention should be given to the mid-to-late gestational period to ensure calves are born at optimal birth weight. Further, it is suggested that maternal nutrition does not appear to have a consistent effect on carcass quality, instead, external factors near the time of slaughter may be the major determinants.

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“…Perempuan yang mengalami kekurangan gizi sebelum kehamilan atau selama minggu pertama kehamilan memiliki resiko lebih tinggi melahirkan bayi yang mengalami kerusakan otak dan sumsum tulang karena pembentukan sistem syaraf dimulai pada minggu ke dua sampai lima pertama kehamilan. Kekurangan gizi pada trimester akhir memiliki kecenderungan akan melahirkan bayi dengan berat badan lahir rendah (< 2.500 gram) (Arisman, 2004;Elsandra, Made, Gunawan, & Joko 2019;Arini, & Firdaus, 2019;Ophie, Made, Gunawan, & Tjarono, 2019;Rainforth, 2019).…”

Maternal-offspring behavior of Guzerat beef cattle

“…Studies evaluating the maternal care in Zebu breeds, discussed the effects on the preconception period caused by the environmental conditions (Grewal et al, 2019), calving difficulty, growth rate (Cortés-Lacruz et al, 2017;Rainforth, 2019), genetic traits (Magalhães Silva et al, 2017), and diet (Miguel-Pacheco et al, 2019;Noya et al, 2019). Nevertheless, studies on the behavioral traits in the relation of calf and cow in postparturition, and the behavior effects associated with the efficiency in herds are scarcely studied.…”

Effects of fetal programming under offspring development in beef cattle

“…Furthermore, maternal restriction at the end of pregnancy can lead to lower birth weight (MICKE et al, 2010), and thus impact the performance of the progeny, once birth weight is related to the growth rate and weight throughout life (RAINFORTH, 2019). At the same time, supplementation in the final third has positive effects, such as greater weight at birth and weaning, greater weight gain until weaning, and with that, greater weight at the beginning of the rearing period.…”