Achieving Body Weight Adjustments for Feeding Status and Pregnant or Non-Pregnant Condition in Beef Cows

نویسندگان

  • Mateus P. Gionbelli
  • Marcio S. Duarte
  • Sebastião C. Valadares Filho
  • Edenio Detmann
  • Mario L. Chizzotti
  • Felipe C. Rodrigues
  • Diego Zanetti
  • Tathyane R. S. Gionbelli
  • Marcelo G. Machado
چکیده

BACKGROUND Beef cows herd accounts for 70% of the total energy used in the beef production system. However, there are still limited studies regarding improvement of production efficiency in this category, mainly in developing countries and in tropical areas. One of the limiting factors is the difficulty to obtain reliable estimates of weight variation in mature cows. This occurs due to the interaction of weight of maternal tissues with specific physiological stages such as pregnancy. Moreover, variation in gastrointestinal contents due to feeding status in ruminant animals is a major source of error in body weight measurements. OBJECTIVES Develop approaches to estimate the individual proportion of weight from maternal tissues and from gestation in pregnant cows, adjusting for feeding status and stage of gestation. METHODS AND FINDINGS Dataset of 49 multiparous non-lactating Nellore cows (32 pregnant and 17 non-pregnant) were used. To establish the relationships between the body weight, depending on the feeding status of pregnant and non-pregnant cows as a function of days of pregnancy, a set of general equations was tested, based on theoretical suppositions. We proposed the concept of pregnant compound (PREG), which represents the weight that is genuinely related to pregnancy. The PREG includes the gravid uterus minus the non-pregnant uterus plus the accretion in udder related to pregnancy. There was no accretion in udder weight up to 238 days of pregnancy. By subtracting the PREG from live weight of a pregnant cow, we obtained estimates of the weight of only maternal tissues in pregnant cows. Non-linear functions were adjusted to estimate the relationship between fasted, non-fasted and empty body weight, for pregnant and non-pregnant cows. CONCLUSIONS Our results allow for estimating the actual live weight of pregnant cows and their body constituents, and subsequent comparison as a function of days of gestation and feeding status.

برای دانلود متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید

ثبت نام

اگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید

منابع مشابه

Limit-feeding corn as an alternative to hay for gestating beef cows.

Three experiments were conducted to determine the efficacy of limit-feeding corn-based diets as an alternative to hay for beef cows in gestation and early lactation. Seventy or 71 mature, pregnant Simmental crossbred cows (average weight = 589 +/- 10 kg) were used in each trial. Each of 29 or 30 cows was fed approximately 5 kg of whole shelled corn, 1.2 kg of a pelletted supplement, and 1 kg of...

متن کامل

Effects of Feeding Rumen Protected Choline and Vitamin E on Milk Yield, Milk Composition, Dry Matter Intake, BodyCondition Score and Body Weight in Early Lactating Dairy Cows

Twenty four primiparous and multiparous Holstein cows on early lactation, beginning five weeks postpartum, were used for four weeks to investigate the effects of supplemention of rumen-protected choline (RPC) or vitamin E on milk yield, milk composition, dry matter intake, body condition score and body weight. The cows were randomly assigned to one of the following treatments: I)no supplement (...

متن کامل

Hepatic triacylglycerols and serum non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) variations in indigenous water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) in the province of Khuzestan, Iran

Fatty liver is a metabolic disorder of dairy cows in early lactation, and approximately half of multi-parous dairy cows experience a moderate to severe fatty liver at calving. Since the occurrence of fatty liver in buffalo is not known, the aim of this study was to evaluate the hepatic content of triacylglycerols (TAG) and total lipids (TL), and the serum content of non-esterified fatty acids (...

متن کامل

Relationship of Cow Size, Cow Requirements, and Production Issues

Introduction Proper nutritional status is critical for optimal production efficiency in the beef cow herd. Meeting the nutrient requirements of the productive cow is a prime factor in the cow’s reproductive success and overall herd profitability. However, beef producers often take a “one size fits all” approach to feeding the cows in the cow herd. This singular approach to nutrient supply for t...

متن کامل

Protein supplementation of ammoniated wheat straw: effect on performance and forage utilization of beef cattle.

We studied the effects of supplement CP concentration on performance and forage use of cattle allowed ad libitum access to ammoniated wheat straw. During two consecutive winters, crossbred beef cows in late gestation (n = 87 in 1990-1991, n = 84 in 1991-1992) were used in a randomized complete block design with three pens per treatment. Cows were stratified by weight, body condition score (BCS)...

متن کامل

ذخیره در منابع من


  با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید

برای دانلود متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید

ثبت نام

اگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید

عنوان ژورنال:

دوره 10  شماره 

صفحات  -

تاریخ انتشار 2015