Effects of using barley and corn steam flaked on rumination activity, production performance and reproductive traits in postpartum Holstein dairy cows

Authors

1 Islamic Azad University of Arak

2 Department of Animal Science, Islamic Azad University, Arak branch

Abstract

Background and objectives: During the past decade, genetic selection for milk production has been very progressive in dairy cows. The postpartum stage in dairy cattle is one of the most important stages in the performance of dairy cattle. Providing food nutritious with feed processing at this time interval can be effective in meeting the needs of the livestock. Recent experience suggests that the use of processed grains instead of milled grains can greatly improve the production and reproductive conditions in dairy cattle. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare the production and reproductive performance of freshly-produced dairy cows in two modes of steam flaked-and-grained cereal grains.
Material and methods: This experiment was conducted in a completely randomized block design in a 100-day period in which 40 dairy cows were reared in 4 treatments: Milled barley and corn, corn steam flaked and milled barley, barley steam flaked and corn and barley stream flaked. Throughout the experiment, cows were housed in the straw yard. Treatment diets were: 1) Control diet (milled grains), 2): steam flacked corn with milled barley (SCGB) 3): steam flacked barley with milled corn (GCSB), 4): steam flacked corn and barley (SCSB). Diets were arranged in CNCPS software based on NRC requirements for dairy cattle. Productive performance (milk, fat, protein), feed consumption behavior, and reproductive performance were evaluated among the four groups. All statistical analyzes were performed in SAS software version 9.1.
Results: The results showed that the use of steam flaked barley and corn in ration increased the production efficiency in fresh cows (P <0.05), So that the simultaneous use of stream flaked corn and barley compared to the milled, increased the amount of cumulative milk from 3196 to 3731 kg, but the percentage of lipid and milk protein was not affected by experimental treatments. Pregnancy rates and open days in barley and corn treated with steam flaked were improved by 13% and 11 days, respectively (p < 0.05). The chewing rates were higher in stream flaked corn and barley compared to the milled (64 times in treatment 4 to 58 times in treatment 1), which had a significant difference.
Conclusion: The use of steam flaked corn and barley improves reproductive, reproductive performance and improve production performance in freshly dairy cows instead of barley and corn milled also reduces open days, calving interval and increase conception rate, pregnancy rate in first 100 days and total pregnancy rate ,which can lead to economically important.

Keywords


  1. 1. Alvarado, C.G., Anrique, R.G. and Navarrete, S.Q. 2009. Effect of including extruded, rolled or ground corn in dairy cow diets based on direct cut grass silage. Chil. J. Agri. Res. 69: 356-365.

    2. Baldwin, R.L., McLeod, K.R. and Heitman, R.N. 2004. Rumen development, intestinal growth and hepatic metabolism in the pre- and post- weaning ruminant. J. Dairy. Sci. 87: 55-65.

    3. Beam, S.W. and Butler, W.R. 1999. Effects of energy balance on follicular development and first ovulation in post-partum dairy cows. J. Reprod and Fertil Suppl. 54: 411–424.

    4. Beauchemin, K.A., Yang, W.Z. and Rode, L.M. 2001. Effects of barley grain processing on the site and extent of digestion of beef feedlot finishing diets. J. Anim. Sci. 79: 1925-1936.

    5. Butler, W.R. 2003. Energy balance relationships with follicular development, ovulation and fertility in postpartum dairy cows. J. Dairy. Sci. 83: 211-218.

    1. 6.  Cattaneo, L., Baudracco, J., Lazzarini, B. and Ortega, H. 2015. Methodology to estimate the cost of delayed pregnancy for dairy cows. An example for Argentina. R. Bras. J. Zootec. 44(6): 226-229.

    7. Chen, K.H., Huber, J.T., Theurer, C.B., Swingle, R.S., Simas, S.C., Chan, Z.Wu. and Sullivan, J.L. 1994.  Effect of steam flaking of corn and sorghum grains on performance of lactating cows. J. Dairy. Sci. 77: 1038–1043.

    8. Dehghan-banadaky, M., Corbett, R. and Oba, M. 2007. Effects of barley grain processing on productivity of cattle. J. Anim. Feed. Sci. Tech. 137: 1-24.

    9. Ferraretto, L., Crump, P. and Shaver, R. 2013. Effect of cereal grain type and corn grain harvesting and processing methods on intake, digestion, and milk production by dairy cows through a meta-analysis. J. Dairy. Sci. 96(1): 533-550.

    10. Firkin, J., Eastridge, M., St-Pierre, N. and Noftsger, S. 2001. Effects of grain variability and processing on starch utilization by lactating dairy cattle. J. Anim. Sci. 79: 218-238.

    11. Garnsworthy, P.C., Gong, J.G., Armstrong, D.G., Newbold, J.R., Marsden, M., Richards, S.E., Mann, G.E., Sinclair, K.D. and Webb, R. 2008. Nutrition, metabolism, and fertility in dairy cows: 3. Amino acids and ovarian function. J. Dairy. Sci. 91: 4190-4197.

    12. Giuberti, G., Gallo, A., Masoero, F., Ferrarett, L.F., Hoffan, P.C., and Shaver, R.D. 2014. Factors affecting starch utilization in large animal food production system: A review: Starch. 66: 72–90.

    13. Huntington, G., Harmon, D. and Richards, C. 2006. Sites, rates, and limits of starch digestion and glucose metabolism in growing cattle. J. Anim. Sci. 84(13): 14-24.

    14. Kazemi, F., Ghoorchi, T., Dastar, B. and Eshraghi, F. 2016. Investigating the effect of replacement barley seeds with processed corn seeds on profitability of Afshary fattening lambs. J. Ruminant. Research. 4: 40-54. (In Persian).

    15. Koing, K. and Beauchemin, K. 2011. Optimum extent of barley grain processing and barley silage proportion in feedlot cattle diets: Growth, feed efficiency and fecal characteristics. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 91: 411-422.

    16. Loor, J.J., Everts, R.E., Bionaz, M. Dann, H.M., Morin D.E., Oliveira, Rosane., Rodriguez-Zas, S.L., Drackley, J.K. and Lewin, H.A. 2007. Nutrition-induced ketosis alters metabolic and signaling gene networks in liver of periparturient dairy cows. Physiol genomic. 32(1): 105-116.

    17.López-Soto M.A., Barreras, A., Calderón-Cortés, J.F., Plascencia, A., Urías-Estrada, J.D., AguilarHernández, J.A., Sánchez-Mendoza, B., Montelongo-Terriquez, A., Bermúdez-Hurtado, R.M., Estrada-Angulo, A.  and Zinn, R.A. 2014. Influence of processing of barley grain on characteristics of digestion, ruminal fermentation and digestible energy of diet in lactating cows. Iran J. Anim. Sci. 4: 477–484.

    18. Lucy, M.C. 2001. Reproductive loss in high-producing dairy cattle: where will it end.  J. Dairy. Sci. 84(6): 1277- 93.

    19. Lucy, M.C., Staples, C.R., Thatcher, W.W., Erickson, P.S., Cleale, R.M., Firkins, J.L., Clark, J.H., Murphy, M.R. and Brodie, B.O. 1992. Influence of diet composition, dry-matter intake, milk production and energy balance on time of postpartum ovulation and fertility in dairy cows. J. Anim. Product. 54: 323–331.

    20. Nasrollahi, S.M., Zali, A. and Ghorbani, G.R. 2017. Relationships between blood metabolites and acidosis induced by feeding pelleted barley and wheat grains in dairy cows. J. Rumin. Res. 5(1): 131-150. (In Persian).

    21. Opsomer, G. and Kriuf A. 2009. Metritis and endometritis in high yielding dairy cows. Rev. Bras. Reprod. Anim. 39: 164-172.

    22. Roche, J.R., Kay, J.K., Friggens, N.C., Loor, J.J. and Berry, D.P. 2013. Assessing and Managing Body Condition Score for the Prevention of Metabolic Disease in Dairy Cows. Veterinary clinics: J. Food. Animal Practice. 323–336.

    23.Safaei, Kh. Ghorbani, Gh.R., Alikhani, M., Sadeghi Sefidmazgi, A., Yang, W.Z.,  and Mohammadi, F. 2016. Effects of processing method, steaming duration and roller setting distance on ruminal degradability of barley grain. J. Rumin Res. 3(4): 103-126. (In Persian).

    24.Santos, J.E.P., Huber J.T., Theurer, C.B, Nussio L.G., Tarazon, M. and Santos, F.A.P. 1999. Response of lac- tating dairy cows to steam-flked sorghum, steam-flked corn, or steam-rolled corn and protein sources of diffring degradability. J. Dairy. Sci. 82: 728–737.

    25.Savar, M., Khorvash, M., Amanlou, H.,
    Ghorbani, G.R., Ghasemi, E., Mirzaei, M. and Mohammadi, F. 2017. Effects of the source and level of rumen undegradable protein and corn processing on production performance of dairy cows. J. Rumin Res. 5(3): 41-56. (In Persian).

    26.Tanaka, T., Arai, M., Ohtani, Sh., Uemura, S., Kuroiwa, T., Kim, S. and Kamomae, H. 2007. Influence of parity on follicular dynamics and resumption of ovarian cycle in postpartum dairy cows. J. Anim. Reprod. Sci. 108: 134-143.

    27.Theurer, C.B., Huber, J., Delgado-Elorduy, T.A. and Wanderley, R. 1999. Summary of steam-flaking corn or sorghum grain for lactating dairy cows. J. Dairy. Sci. 82: 1950–1959.