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Diet composition, milk fatty acids and fertility in dairy cows - LS3660

A report on the development of a model to test the hypothesis that reproductive competence of dairy cows can be predicted from milk fatty acid composition.

Year of Publication2006

The study shows that milk fatty acids can be related to reproductive outcomes in ways that reflect metabolic and physiological processes in the cow. Fatty acids can be grouped according to origin, thereby indicating whether variations are likely to be due to rumen fermentation or mammary synthesis of fatty acids. This could provide a diagnostic tool for assessing diet adequacy for reproduction as well as milk composition. Furthermore, the study has highlighted that trans fatty acids, which are produced when rumen fermentation is compromised, have deleterious effects on reproduction as well as digestion and general metabolism. This will enable future dietary strategies to be assessed concurrently for their impact on proportions of ‘healthy’ fatty acids in milk, for their impact on fertility, and for their impact on the environment.

This item is categorised as follows

• Subject Collection > Livestock & dairy > Dairy production
• Subject Collection > Livestock & dairy > Animal health & welfare
• Subject Collection > Livestock & dairy

Additional keywords/tags

sustainable farming and foodsustainable productionsheeplivestock farmingreproduction