Fat supplements for dairy

Mr Magadi

Than you very much for you interesting article but I would like to add some comments. You say that calcium salts decrease DMI and milk yield and you based your comment in the study made by Weiss and Wyatt (2004). I would like to note that in this article when cows were fed with 1.7% of Calcium salt, DMI increased and whne the quantity of calcium salt increase to 3.4%, milk production increased more than 5 litre/cow/day in spite of DMI was reduced. There are a lot of works made with calcium salts that DMI was not decreased, specially when calcium salt was included below 3% like Fouladi-Nasha et al (2007), Garnsworthy et al. (2008), moallem et al. 2000).... I agree with you that high % of calcium salts tend to decrease DMI but calcium salts used at dose under 3% don't produce any problem on DMI and increase milk production and milk efficiency.

I would like to know some results about dry fats because you don’t show any data about dry fats. Thanks and best regards

Dear Jaime

You are absolutly right. Calcium Soaps of Fatty acids - By Pass Fat actualy shown lot of benefits to the dairy cows in term of over coming the Negative Energy Balance , Improving the Body Score Condition, Butter Fat and increae in milk quantity. The simple precaution one should take while feeding the Calcium Sopas of Fatty acids is to adopt the animal to the product mixed feed for couple of days to over come the possibilities of reduced feed in take which may be noticed in some animals. If we adopt the animal properly there is issue on feeding Calcium Soaps of Fatty acids and the farmer can get the rich benefits.

Thanks & Regards

Dr.V.Velan

Dr Velan,

Our experience with calcium soaps is that despite getting the cow to acclimatise to the product still you have some level of reduced DMI. This is commonly noticed with high yielding dairy cows whose rumen pH conditions are relatively low due to high concentrate feeding. As a result there is dissociation of the product into fatty acids and Calcium with later upsetting cellulolytic microbial fermentation.

We must add protected fat to the high producing cow to cover requirements for energy at maximam 3% from dry matter intake .

I agree with you MAGADI that the product reduced DMI specially high yieliding cows if it increased more than 3.5%

For those doubting the effect of calcium soaps on DMI please read the review paper, " Effect of Diet on Short-Term Regulation of Feed Intake by Lactating Dairy Cattle", by M S Allen of Michigan State University in 2000 J Dairy Sci. 83: 1598-1624, specifically page 1612.

Our fat supplements are made from vegetable and marine oils processed on cereal fibre under specific temperature and duration. The oils are adsorbed into the matrix of the carrier base leaving no free-floating fatty acid globules to coat fibre and impact negatively on rumen fermentation. More importantly, the carrier material is ground to a specific particle size that enables the product to be washed way rapidly from the rumen in the liquor. Because of the short residence time in the rumen, the fats have minimal opportunity to upset microbial fermentation. Downstream the fatty acids are slowly released, digested and absorbed in the blood stream to provide the liver with the energy for milk production.

I would like to know that when we want to shift dairy cow from one company calcium soap to other, can we shift it abruptly or slowly? Please throw some light.