Effect of vitamin D source and dietary cation-anion difference in peripartum dairy cows on calcium homeostasis and milk production

Effects of dietary supplementation with vitamin A, D3, E, and garlic on heat detection, pregnancy rate, and serum profile in anestrus dairy cows

Anestrus poses substantial challenges for dairy industries worldwide. This research aims to evaluate the effect of oral supplementation with garlic alone, vitamins A, D3, E alone, and their combination on heat detection, pregnancy rate and serum profile in anestrus dairy cows. Using a completely randomized design, this study, conducted over 327 days, evaluated 72 anestrus-affected cows, which were divided into four groups. T0 (Control) received only normal saline; T1 with vitamin A,D3,E; T2 with Garlic and T3 integrated with A, D3, E + Garlic in drinking water. Results demonstrated that the treatment groups exhibited significantly higher estrus signs (p < 0.05) compared to the control. The pregnancy rate was also increased (P = 0.059), especially in the T3 group which had the highest heat detection (55.55 %), conception (70 %), and pregnancy (38.88 %). In comparison, the heat detection rate for T1 was 44.44 %, while the conception rate for T2 was 66.66 %. Additionally, T0 exhibited the least proportion across all parameters. Additionally, the elevated BUN (Blood Urea Nitrogen) and blood glucose levels observed in non-responsive (those not showing signs of heat) cows at 32.51 and 43.65 mg/dl respectively, compared to responsive cows (those showing signs of heat) with levels of 22.40 and 51.34 mg/dl. These findings suggest a potential association between these blood parameters and the cyclicity of dairy cows. These findings highlight that oral supplementation with vitamin AD3E+Garlic significantly improves the heat detection rate and pregnancy rate than only administering vitamin AD3E or Garlic with anestrus in dairy cattle.

Technical note: Validation of energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence for determination of indigestible markers in ruminant fecal and rumen fluid samples

Determination of digestibility and passage rate is important for further understanding of nutrient utilization and thereby aids in improving nutrient utilization efficiency. Titanium dioxide and chromium ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid are commonly used as indigestible markers for determining passage rates of diets to aid in determination of digestibility. Analyzing Ti and Cr involves the use of procedures such as acid digestions, inductively coupled plasma spectroscopy, and atomic absorption. These commonly used methodologies involve hazardous chemicals, destruction of samples, and low sample throughput. The objective of this experiment was to develop and validate an accurate and precise method for measuring both Ti and Cr using energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (ED-XRF). Energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence is an analytical technique used for analyzing elements in various sample types. The samples were added to the ED-XRF machine and irradiated with X-rays. The intensity of the X-rays emitted (termed fluorescent X-rays) was used for calculation of the concentration of the element. The method for Ti was constructed using fecal samples from cattle consuming three different diet types (finishing diet, dairy lactation diet, and grazing native range pasture). The Cr method was developed for rumen fluid analysis. We compared the machine-calculated concentrations of each element to the concentration calculated by a standard curve. For both the Ti and Cr, the standard curve-calculated value had a lower percent difference overall at 4.56% and 12.59%, respectively, compared to the machine percent difference of 8.35% and 16.38% for Ti and Cr, respectively. To determine accuracy and precision of the method, samples were spiked with various amounts of Ti or Cr and measured for their respective compounds with percent recovery and inter- and intra-assay CV-calculated thereafter. The average recovery for Ti across all diet types was 100.3%, and the recovery for Cr in rumen fluid was 95.7%. The average inter- and intra-assay CV for Ti, across all diet types, were 9.70% and 2.16%, respectively. For Cr, the average inter- and intra-assay CV were 5.42% and 8.45%, respectively. The ED-XRF method requires minimal additional chemicals, is cost-effective, and allows for sample preservation as well as a high throughput of samples. Our results indicate utilization of ED-XRF is an accurate and precise method for determination of Ti in feces and Cr in rumen fluid.