A blend of essential oils improved feed efficiency and affected ruminal and systemic variables of dairy cows (original) (raw)
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The objective of this study was to determine effect of dietary essential oil (EO) compounds, which contained cinnamaldehyde, eugenol, peppermint, coriander, cumin, lemongrass, and an organic carrier on feed intake, blood metabolites, and body condition score (BCS). Forty Holstein cows were assigned to one of two treatment groups: a Control and EO fed. The experiment lasted 50 days. Dry matter intake (DMI) was measured daily while blood metabolites and BCS were measured at d 30 and 50 of the experiment. In conclusion, our result showed that supplementation with EO mixture increased DMI and improved energy status as evidenced by lower BCS loss and improved some blood metabolic profiles at early lactation.
Animal Feed Science and Technology, 2010
Essential oils (EO) have been shown to positively impact in vitro ruminal fermentation, but there are few in vivo studies that have examined animal responses. Our objective was to evaluate the efficacy of an EO complex (Agolin Ruminant from AGOLIN SA, Bière, Switzerland), which contained eugenol, geranyl acetate and coriander oil as major components, on the production of lactating dairy cows, measures of efficiency of use of dietary N as well as whole tract digestion of nutrients. Two pens of approximately 310 early lactation multiparous cows were used in a 2 × 2 factorial experiment with treatment reversed 28-day periods. Cows were fed a totally mixed ration (TMR) twice daily for ad libitum intake based on (g/kg TMR DM): wheat silage (137), maize grain (122), alfalfa hay and fresh chop alfalfa (182) and corn silage (66), with numerous other ingredients. The basal TMR was the same for both treatment groups, and differed only in that the EO complex was added to the TMR of the EO assigned pen. Feed premixes, TMR and ingredients were sampled on days 21 and 26 of each experimental period. Cows were milked three times daily with milk yield and components measured at the end of each period. Urine samples were collected at the end of each period from 24 cows/pen that voluntarily urinated, with fecal collections from these same cows 24 h later. The actual refusals corrected EO intake was 0.85 g/cow/d. The TMR contained 547 g/kg DM, 164 g/kg crude protein (CP), 62 g/kg ether extract, 322 g/kg neutral detergent fibre (i.e., aNDFom) and 120 g/kg starch. The DM intake was numerically (i.e., P=0.13) lower with EO feeding (i.e., 26.0 versus 27.4 kg/d) but milk yield was not impacted (mean 49.2 kg/d). However milk fat production (1.63 versus 1.66 kg/d; P=0.02) and milk fat proportion (33.2 versus 33.9 g/kg; P<0.01) were higher for cows fed EO. Cows fed the EO complex diet lost body condition whereas those that were not fed the EO gained body condition (P<0.01). There were no differences in urine parameters or whole tract digestion of organic matter, CP and aNDFom. Feeding this EO complex impacted the production of these high producing dairy cows, primarily by enhancing milk fat synthesis which apparently was the result of an energetic shift away from body condition gain, suggesting that it may have enhanced acetate production and/or the acetate to propionate ratio in the rumen.
The objective of this study was to determine effect of dietary essential oil (EO) compounds, which contained cinnamaldehyde, eugenol, peppermint,coriander, cumin, lemongrass, and an organic carrier on feed intake, milk composition, and rumen fermentation of dairy cows during heat exposure. Thirty-two Holstein cows (days in milk= 60 ± 5) were assigned to one of two treatment groups: a Control and EO fed. The experiment lasted 28 days. Dry matter intake (DMI) was measured daily while and milk production was measured weekly. Our result showed that DMI and milk yield was decreased (P< 0.01) in control cows relative to EO cows. Furthermore, supplementation with EO was associated with a decrease in the molar proportion of propionate (P< 0.05) and increase (P < 0.05) in acetate to propionate ratio. In conclusion, EO supplementations in diets can be useful nutritional modification to alleviate for the decrease DMI and milk production during heat exposure in lactating dairy cows.
Sustainability
Essential oils (EOs) and their active components are attracting a lot of attention as sustainable feed additives due to their known antimicrobial properties against a variety of microorganisms, including bacteria, protozoa, and fungi. They also have biological therapeutic, antioxidant, and flavor properties. They can be used for modifying the rumen environment and improving animal productivity. The present study was designed to investigate the effect of supplementation with 2.5 and 5 g/head/day of an essential oils blend (EOB) of clove, oregano, and juniper in equal proportions on milk production and quality, and physiological status of early lactating Holstein dairy cows for 8 weeks of treatment followed by 8 weeks of posttreatment. The results revealed an improvement in milk yield (p ≤ 0.02) and feed efficiency (p ≤ 0.001) with EOB at a dose of 2.5 g/head/day. The percentages of milk protein and lactose were increased (p ≤ 0.03) with a high dose of EOB inclusion during the treatme...
2009
A digestion trial was conducted during a lactation trial to evaluate the effects of garlic oil and garlic-origanum oil combination on nutrient utilization in lactating crossbred cows. Eighteen cows were distributed randomly into three equal groups according to their milk production. The cows in all the three groups were fed with 50:50 (concentrate: roughage) diet. The animals in treatment 1 (T 1 ) and treatment 2 (T 2 ) were supplemented with garlic and garlic-origanum oil combination, respectively. The treatments did not affect nutrient digestibility, digestible nutrient intake, plane of nutrition and microbial protein synthesis in lactating cows.
2007
The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of feeding essential oils from garlic (GAR) and juniper berry (JUN), or monensin (MO) on feed intake, ruminal fermentation, the site and extent of digestion, microbial protein synthesis, milk production, and immune status in dairy cows. Four midlactating Holstein cows fitted with ruminal and duodenal cannulas were used in a 4 × 4 Latin square design with 21-d periods and 4 treatments: control (no additive), MO (330 mg/cow per d), GAR (5 g/cow per d), and JUN (2 g/cow per d). Cows were fed ad libitum a TMR consisting of 40% forage and 60% barley-based concentrate. Dry matter intake averaged 20.4 kg/d and was not affected by dietary additives. Total tract digestibilities of dry matter, organic matter, fiber, and starch were not affected by experimental treatments. However, ruminal digestibilities of dry matter and organic matter were higher (+13%) for GAR and JUN than for the control diet, mainly because of increased crude protein digestion in the rumen. Feeding GAR and JUN increased ruminal digestion of dietary protein by 11% as compared with the control. In contrast, ruminal digestion of dietary protein was reduced by 11% with MO as compared with the control. Milk fat content was lower for MO (2.68%) than for the GAR (3.46%), JUN (3.40%), and control (3.14%) diets. No effects of GAR, JUN, or MO were observed on milk production, ruminal microbial protein synthesis, ruminal pH, and ruminal concentrations of volatile fatty acids and ammonia N. The total and differential numbers of white blood cells as well as serum amyloid A and haptoglobin were not affected by the treatments, suggesting that additives had no effect on the immune status of cows. Results of this study indicate that supplementing dairy cows with GAR (5 g/d) and JUN (2 g/d) essential oils improved feed digestibility in the rumen, but possibly at the expense
Animal Science Journal, 2017
The effects of essential oils (EOs) on ruminal nutrient disappearance, rumen fermentation and blood metabolites in fistulated non-lactating dairy cows were studied. Four fistulated non-lactaing dairy cows were used in a 4 × 4 Latin square design; the experiment consisted of four periods of 21 days in each period, with the first 14 days for adaptation followed by 7 days of measurement period. Animals were fed 3 kg/day of 21% crude protein (CP) concentrate and ad libitum corn silage. Treatments were: (i) control; (ii) 2 mL Allicin/cow/day; (iii) 2 mL zingiberene/cow/day; and (iv) 2 mL citral/cow/day. The results demonstrated that EOs increased dry matter and neutral detergent fiber degradabilities at 48 and 72 h, but had no effect on acid detergent fiber and CP degradabilities. EOs did not change ruminal pH, ammonia nitrogen, protozoa, volatile fatty acid concentrations and blood glucose but reduced blood urea nitrogen at 4 h.
Animal Feed Science and Technology, 2013
Sixty multiparous, lactating Holstein cows (57 ± 23.1 d in milk at the start of the experiment) were used in a completely randomized design to examine effects of adding incremental levels of dietary essential oil compounds (EO; 0, 200, 400 and 600 mg/d) on milk production and composition. Cows were allowed to graze on winter oats for 8 h/d with a daily herbage allowance of 15 kg dry matter (DM)/cow, and then received supplemental corn silage and sunflower meal in confinement for the remainder of the day. The EO were fed individually at milking times (0600 and 1600 h), mixed with 0.86 kg DM of dry rolled corn grain. In addition, 4 ruminally cannulated lactating Holstein cows in mid lactation were used in a 4×4 Latin Square design with 14 d periods to study effects of EO on ruminal fermentation characteristics and ruminal in sacco DM, crude protein (CP), and neutral detergent fiber (aNDF) degradability. Milk production, which ranged from 18.8 to 20.2 kg/d, and milk composition were not affected by EO. In general, ruminal fermentation characteristics were not affected by EO addition at any level, except for a 13% increase in butyrate concentrations with all EO levels compared to the control. Ruminal ammonia N concentration was high in all treatments (51.5 ± 5.75 mg/100 ml) and tended (P=0.09) to increase when 200 and 400 mg/d of EO were added. In addition, 200 mg/d of EO marginally decreased the potentially ruminally degradable fraction of the CP of the complete ration. Results using dairy cows in mid lactation that grazed 8 h/d on lush pasture showed limited effects of this EO complex on ruminal fermentation, milk production and milk composition.
2020
The objective of this study was to evaluate how the inclusion of a blend of essential oils in milk replacer (MR) affects different outcomes of dairy heifers. The outcomes evaluated: feed intake, performance, body development, blood cells and metabolites, insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), rumen fermentation, fecal scores and respiratory scores. All outcomes were evaluated during pre-weaning (4 – 60 d of age), and carryover effects on post-weaning (61 – 90 d of age) periods. The experimental units utilized were 29 newborn Holstein × Gyr crossbred dairy heifers, with genetic composition of 5/8 or more Holstein and 3/8 or less Gyr and body weight (BW) at birth of 32.2 ± 5.2 kg. Experimental units were randomly assigned to either a control group (CON, n = 15) or a treatment group, consisting of supplementation of a blend of essential oils (BEO, n = 14) with1 g/d/calf (Apex Calf, Adisseo, China). During the pre-weaning phase, all heifers were fed 5 L of MR/d reconstituted at 15% (dry ...
Effects of essential oils on the performance, health, and feeding behavior of growing cattle
Concerns and changes in policy related to use of antimicrobials in livestock has led to increased interest in using alternative feed additives such as essential oils (EO). Essential oils are plant secondary metabolites with characteristic odors. Essential oils are reported to alter ruminal fermentation (Hart et al., 2008) and animal performance (Calsamiglia et al., 2007). There is also evidence to suggest that EOs may manipulate feeding behavior in cattle (Tager and Krause, 2011). An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of a blend of EO in a commercially available complete feed (MFA Cattle Charge, MFA Inc., Columbia, MO) on performance, health, and feeding behavior of steers during the backgrounding phase. Eighty beef steers (initial BW = 267 [plus or minus] 2.6 kg) were obtained from 3 different sources and assigned risk groups based on distance traveled, previous health management, and incidence of disease. Pen fed EO tended (P = 0.09) to have a greater DMI than contro...