Advantages and disadvantages of Protective Fat in Dairy cows

Protective fat is a substance that is coated on the surface of oil with some substances difficult to solve in the rumen, which can avoid rumen fermentation, will not be destroyed by the rumen, and can smoothly enter the small intestine to be fully digested, absorbed and utilized. Feeding protective fat to dairy cows can increase milk yield, improve milk quality, reduce stress harm and improve reproductive performance of dairy cows. Six problems should be paid attention to in feeding dairy cows with protective fat in order to achieve the ideal goal, otherwise, it will be counterproductive.

Cow

Pay attention to the type of protective fat: when feeding cows with protective fat, choose fatty acids with short carbon chain in protective fat products with high utilization. It should also be noted that unsaturated fatty acids are easier to absorb and have better effects than saturated fatty acids. If the fat used in production is not coated, when feeding cows, we should pay attention to control the dosage and increase the content of calcium and magnesium in the diet.

Pay attention to control the addition amount: excessive fat addition can not only cause waste, but also reduce the dry feed intake of dairy cows and reduce the production performance of dairy cows. When the total fat content in the general diet is 5% to 6%, the utilization rate is the highest. If it is more than 6%, it has side effects on dairy cows, on the contrary, when it is less than 3%, the effect is not obvious.

Pay attention to the adding time: after calving, the physical exertion of the cow is large, and the addition of fat is also a kind of stress, so it should not be added in the short term after giving birth, but it should be added in 3-5 weeks after delivery, when the effect of stress is small, although the milk yield of the cow will decrease temporarily, but then it will increase gradually. The effect of feeding in the lactation period of dairy cows is better, and it can prolong the peak period of milk production and increase the milk yield of the whole lactation period, but the effect of adding in the later stage of lactation is not obvious, so it is not necessary to use protective fat.

The composition of the diet should be reasonable: while feeding the protective fat of dairy cows, high-quality hay should be fed to make the amount of fiber meet the requirements and promote the rumen to produce more acid. Only in this way can the role of fat be brought into full play and the milk yield and milk fat rate of dairy cows can be significantly improved. The content of dry matter crude fiber in dairy cow diet should be 17%, and acid detergent fiber should be 21%. At the same time, the content of crude protein in diet should be increased.

Pay attention to the applicable object: protective fat is suitable for high and medium milk yield cows, but not for low yield dairy cows. If the average daily milk yield of the herd is less than 25.5 kg, it does not need to be added. Practice has proved that when the milk fat rate is less than 3.5%, the effect of feeding protective fat is good, and when the milk fat rate is higher than 3.5%, the effect is not obvious.

Feeding protective fat should be step by step: feeding cow protective fat should gradually increase the feeding amount, do not reach the required amount in one step, in order to avoid the problem of poor palatability. Generally speaking, it should be divided into three stages, and the full use should be achieved after 3-4 weeks.