ACTA VETERINARIA ET ZOOTECHNICA SINICA ›› 2017, Vol. 48 ›› Issue (2): 272-279.doi: 10.11843/j.issn.0366-6964.2017.02.010

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Effects of Dietary Nutrient Levels on Body Weight, Nutrient Digestion and Metabolism, and Colostrum Composition of Yili Mares during Late Pregnancy Period

WANG Xian-dong, YU Quan-ping, FANG Mei-yan, YANG Guang, CHEN Yong*   

  1. (College of Animal Science, Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumqi 830052, China)
  • Received:2016-05-31 Online:2017-02-23 Published:2017-02-23

Abstract:

This experiment was conducted to study the effects of diets with different dietary digestible energy (DE) and crude protein (CP) on the body weight (BW), nutrients apparent digestibility and metabolism, colostrum composition and fatty acid profile of milk fat of Yili mares during late pregnancy period, to determine requirements of dietary DE and CP of Yili mares during late pregnancy period. Twenty-five Yili mares aged 12-13 years old with BW (380±48) kg, parity of 5-6 in late pregnancy were selected, and were randomly divided into 5 groups (group Ⅰ, Ⅱ, Ⅲ, Ⅳ and Ⅴ), each group with 5 repeats. From group Ⅰto Ⅴ, daily supplied DE were 91.28, 96.72, 102.16, 107.61 and 113.05 MJ•d-1, respectively; CP were 0.92, 0.99, 1.06, 1.13 and 1.20 kg•d-1. The adaptation period was 10 d, and the trial period lasted for 20 d. BW were weighted at the end of the trial period and after parturition. Colostrums were collected, and milk composition and fatty acid profile were detected. The results showed that there were no significant differences in BW, average daily gain, nutrients apparent digestibility, metabolism of nitrogen, phosphorus and gross energy, and contents of milk fat, protein, total solids and somatic cell count among the 5 groups (P>0.05). However, with the increasing of dietary DE and CP levels, the availability of digestible Ca increased linearly and quadratically (P<0.05). Lactose content of group Ⅲ, Ⅳ and Ⅴ were significant higher than that of group Ⅱ (P<0.05). The main saturated fatty acid in mares colostrum was palmitic acid, and the main unsaturated fatty acids were oleic acid and linoleic acid. With the increasing of dietary DE and CP levels, the contents of the polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in colostrum increased linearly (P<0.01). It is concluded that DE and CP feeding levels of 91.28 MJ•d-1 and 0.92 kg•d-1 are able to meet the requirement of Yili mare in the late pregnancy, and further increasing the dietary DE and CP levels can improve the content of PUFA in colostrum.

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