Prior Forage Type Influences Ruminal Responses to a Wheat Grain Challenge in Lactating Dairy Cows

To increase the dry matter and metabolisable energy intake of cows, dairy farmers often supplement pasture with concentrates and conserved fodder. Feeding large amounts of highly fermentable concentrates to cows can result in metabolic issues, such as ruminal acidosis, and thus safer but more effici...

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Autores principales:	Victoria M. Russo, Brian J. Leury, Emer Kennedy, Murray C. Hannah, Martin J. Auldist, Greg L. Morris, William J. Wales
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	MDPI AG 2021
Materias:	acidosis adaptation lucerne hay perennial ryegrass ruminal pH Veterinary medicine SF600-1100 Zoology QL1-991
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/bca502701e5140ab98eea97501b707b6
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:bca502701e5140ab98eea97501b707b62021-11-25T16:18:38ZPrior Forage Type Influences Ruminal Responses to a Wheat Grain Challenge in Lactating Dairy Cows10.3390/ani111131882076-2615https://doaj.org/article/bca502701e5140ab98eea97501b707b62021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/11/11/3188https://doaj.org/toc/2076-2615To increase the dry matter and metabolisable energy intake of cows, dairy farmers often supplement pasture with concentrates and conserved fodder. Feeding large amounts of highly fermentable concentrates to cows can result in metabolic issues, such as ruminal acidosis, and thus safer but more efficient introduction strategies are desirable. We assessed the role that forages play in ruminal, behavioural and production responses to a wheat grain challenge in dairy cows with no previous wheat adaptation. Multiparous lactating Holstein dairy cows (<i>n</i> = 16) were fed a forage-only diet of either lucerne (<i>Medicago sativa</i>) hay, perennial ryegrass (<i>Lolium perenne</i> L.) hay or one of two cultivars of zero-grazing fresh perennial ryegrass herbage (Bealey or Base), for 3 weeks. The forage diet was then supplemented with crushed wheat grain at 8 kg dry matter/cow day<sup>−1</sup>, with no adaptation period. Wheat comprised between 32 and 43% of total dry matter intake. Cows fed hay maintained a higher mean ruminal fluid pH than those fed herbage, on both the forage-only diet (6.43 vs. 6.17) and the forage plus wheat diet (6.03 vs. 5.58). Following supplementation of wheat, cows fed herbage exhibited minimum ruminal fluid pH levels indicative of acute ruminal acidosis, at 5.15 and 5.06 for cultivars Bealey and Base, respectively. Furthermore, for both herbage cultivars, adding wheat resulted in a ruminal fluid pH under 6 for >20 h/day. The ruminal environment of cows fed lucerne hay remained most stable throughout the grain challenge, spending the least amount of time below pH 6.0 (9.0 h/day). Hay created a ruminal environment that was better able to cope with the accumulation of acid as wheat was digested. A combination of increased ruminating time and a slower rate of fermentation, due to higher neutral detergent fiber and lower metabolisable energy concentrations in the hays, is likely responsible for the higher ruminal fluid pH values. Forage plays a critical role in wheat introduction strategies; aggressive adaptation strategies could be implemented when a hay such as lucerne is used as the base forage.Victoria M. RussoBrian J. LeuryEmer KennedyMurray C. HannahMartin J. AuldistGreg L. MorrisWilliam J. WalesMDPI AGarticleacidosisadaptationlucerne hayperennial ryegrassruminal pHVeterinary medicineSF600-1100ZoologyQL1-991ENAnimals, Vol 11, Iss 3188, p 3188 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	acidosis adaptation lucerne hay perennial ryegrass ruminal pH Veterinary medicine SF600-1100 Zoology QL1-991
spellingShingle	acidosis adaptation lucerne hay perennial ryegrass ruminal pH Veterinary medicine SF600-1100 Zoology QL1-991 Victoria M. Russo Brian J. Leury Emer Kennedy Murray C. Hannah Martin J. Auldist Greg L. Morris William J. Wales Prior Forage Type Influences Ruminal Responses to a Wheat Grain Challenge in Lactating Dairy Cows
description	To increase the dry matter and metabolisable energy intake of cows, dairy farmers often supplement pasture with concentrates and conserved fodder. Feeding large amounts of highly fermentable concentrates to cows can result in metabolic issues, such as ruminal acidosis, and thus safer but more efficient introduction strategies are desirable. We assessed the role that forages play in ruminal, behavioural and production responses to a wheat grain challenge in dairy cows with no previous wheat adaptation. Multiparous lactating Holstein dairy cows (<i>n</i> = 16) were fed a forage-only diet of either lucerne (<i>Medicago sativa</i>) hay, perennial ryegrass (<i>Lolium perenne</i> L.) hay or one of two cultivars of zero-grazing fresh perennial ryegrass herbage (Bealey or Base), for 3 weeks. The forage diet was then supplemented with crushed wheat grain at 8 kg dry matter/cow day<sup>−1</sup>, with no adaptation period. Wheat comprised between 32 and 43% of total dry matter intake. Cows fed hay maintained a higher mean ruminal fluid pH than those fed herbage, on both the forage-only diet (6.43 vs. 6.17) and the forage plus wheat diet (6.03 vs. 5.58). Following supplementation of wheat, cows fed herbage exhibited minimum ruminal fluid pH levels indicative of acute ruminal acidosis, at 5.15 and 5.06 for cultivars Bealey and Base, respectively. Furthermore, for both herbage cultivars, adding wheat resulted in a ruminal fluid pH under 6 for >20 h/day. The ruminal environment of cows fed lucerne hay remained most stable throughout the grain challenge, spending the least amount of time below pH 6.0 (9.0 h/day). Hay created a ruminal environment that was better able to cope with the accumulation of acid as wheat was digested. A combination of increased ruminating time and a slower rate of fermentation, due to higher neutral detergent fiber and lower metabolisable energy concentrations in the hays, is likely responsible for the higher ruminal fluid pH values. Forage plays a critical role in wheat introduction strategies; aggressive adaptation strategies could be implemented when a hay such as lucerne is used as the base forage.
format	article
author	Victoria M. Russo Brian J. Leury Emer Kennedy Murray C. Hannah Martin J. Auldist Greg L. Morris William J. Wales
author_facet	Victoria M. Russo Brian J. Leury Emer Kennedy Murray C. Hannah Martin J. Auldist Greg L. Morris William J. Wales
author_sort	Victoria M. Russo
title	Prior Forage Type Influences Ruminal Responses to a Wheat Grain Challenge in Lactating Dairy Cows
title_short	Prior Forage Type Influences Ruminal Responses to a Wheat Grain Challenge in Lactating Dairy Cows
title_full	Prior Forage Type Influences Ruminal Responses to a Wheat Grain Challenge in Lactating Dairy Cows
title_fullStr	Prior Forage Type Influences Ruminal Responses to a Wheat Grain Challenge in Lactating Dairy Cows
title_full_unstemmed	Prior Forage Type Influences Ruminal Responses to a Wheat Grain Challenge in Lactating Dairy Cows
title_sort	prior forage type influences ruminal responses to a wheat grain challenge in lactating dairy cows
publisher	MDPI AG
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/bca502701e5140ab98eea97501b707b6
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Prior Forage Type Influences Ruminal Responses to a Wheat Grain Challenge in Lactating Dairy Cows

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