Milk yield and milk fatty acids from crossbred F1 dairy cows fed on tropical grasses and supplemented with different levels of concentrate

Vallejo Hernández, L. H., Xochitemol Hernández, A., Castillo Gallegos, E., Gonzalez-Ronquillo, M., Vargas Bello Pérez, E. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7105-5752 and Corona, L. (2022) Milk yield and milk fatty acids from crossbred F1 dairy cows fed on tropical grasses and supplemented with different levels of concentrate. Animals, 12 (19). 2570. ISSN 2076-2615 doi: 10.3390/ani12192570

Abstract/Summary

The objective of this study was to determine milk fatty acids from crossbred F1 dairy cows fed on tropical grasses and supplemented with different levels of concentrate. Twelve dairy cows (50% Holstein x 50% Brahman) with 60 days of lactation grazing tropical grasses were assigned to a Switchback design, with three periods of 15 days with different concentrate levels: 0, 150, 300 and 450 g /kg. Milk samples were obtained on the last five days of each experimental period. Milk yield and milk composition were not affected. Cows fed with 300 g/kg of concentrate had higher contents of C15:0 (p = 0.004), C22:0 (p = 0.031), and C24:0 (p = 0.013). C17:1 cis9 was higher (p = 0.039) with 150 g/kg and lowest with 450 g/kg. C18:1 cis9 was higher (p = 0.042) with 150 g/kg. C18:2n6trans was higher (p = 0.05) with 300 g/kg and lower (p = 0.018) with 450 g/kg. This study shows that adding up to 450 g/kg of concentrate to crossbred F1 dairy cows fed on tropical grasses does not have negative effects on milk yield and milk quality. Therefore, under these production conditions, farmers can rely on tropical grasses and reduce feeding costs.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/108289
Identification Number/DOI	10.3390/ani12192570
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	No Reading authors. Back catalogue items Life Sciences > School of Agriculture, Policy and Development > Department of Animal Sciences
Publisher	MDPI
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