Effect of Dry-Period Diet on the Performance and Metabolism of Dairy Cows in Early Lactation
Julien Soulat,
Emilie Knapp,
Nassim Moula,
Jean-Luc Hornick,
Céline Purnelle,
Isabelle Dufrasne
Affiliations
Julien Soulat
Department of Veterinary Management of Animal Ressources, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Fundamental and Applied Research for Animal & Health (FARAH), University of Liège, 4000 Liège, Belgium
Emilie Knapp
Department of Veterinary Management of Animal Ressources, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Fundamental and Applied Research for Animal & Health (FARAH), University of Liège, 4000 Liège, Belgium
Nassim Moula
Department of Veterinary Management of Animal Ressources, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Fundamental and Applied Research for Animal & Health (FARAH), University of Liège, 4000 Liège, Belgium
Jean-Luc Hornick
Department of Veterinary Management of Animal Ressources, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Fundamental and Applied Research for Animal & Health (FARAH), University of Liège, 4000 Liège, Belgium
Department of Veterinary Management of Animal Ressources, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Fundamental and Applied Research for Animal & Health (FARAH), University of Liège, 4000 Liège, Belgium
The objective of this work was to observe the effect of three different dry-period diets on blood metabolites (p = 9) and the production and fatty acid (FA) profile of milk (p = 19) in the peripartum period. In this study, 32 Holstein dairy cows, during their dry period, were divided in 3 different diet groups, as follows: the CONC diet (n = 11) was based on concentrate meal and straw, the CORN diet (n = 11) was based on corn silage, and the MIXED diet (n = 10) was based on corn and grass silages. According to our results, the variations of C18:2n-6, C18:3n-3, non-esterified fatty acid (NEFA), NEFA/cholesterol ratio, and albumin were significantly (p 12 in the blood. In early lactation, this work showed that blood metabolites were more sensitive to changes in the dry diet than the production and FA profile of milk.
