Values for protein/fat ratio and milk urea nitrogen in milk from dairy cows in northern Alajuela and Heredia, Costa Rica

Authors

  • Diana Vargas Sobrado Consultora independiente, Costa Rica
  • Jaime Murillo Herrera Consultor independiente, Costa Rica
  • Frank Hueckmann Voss Consultor independiente, Costa Rica
  • Juan José Romero Zúñiga Universidad Nacional Escuela de Medicina Veterinaria Programa de Investigación en Medicina Poblacional, Costa Rica

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15359/rcv.34-2.1

Keywords:

metabolic diseases, ruminal acidosis, ketosis, grazing, dairy farm, herd health, production, reproduction

Abstract

Milk components provide an economical and less invasive tool to monitor metabolic balance and food rations given to dairy cattle. In order to determine values for fat, protein, protein/fat ratio, and milk urea nitrogen in Costa Rican dairy cows, milk samples were taken from 442 animals from four specialized dairy farms in northern Alajuela and Heredia, during the two daily milkings in April and August 2012. Each component was analyzed using descriptive statistics and comparing means for different categories according to days in lactation, parity number, season of sampling and breed. Average levels were found at 3.34% for protein (95% CI: 3.29-3.37), 4.13% for fat (95% CI: 4.04-4.22), and 16.81 mg/dl for urea nitrogen (95% CI: 16.64-17.26), as well as an average protein/fat ratio of 1.26 (95% CI: 1.24-1.28). There were differences in the components based on breed, parity number and days in lactation. Variations in the percentages of fat, protein, protein/fat ratio and milk urea nitrogen according to breed, parity number, season and days in lactation may indicate metabolic imbalances; consequently, the foregoing must be taken into account when analyzing the diet of cows and their productive and reproductive performance.

References

Arunvipas, P., VanLeeuwen, J.A., Dohoo, I.R. & Keefe, G.P. 2004. Bulk tank milk urea nitrogen: Seasonal patterns and relationship to individual cow milk urea nitrogen values. Can. J. of Vet. Res. 68 (3): 169-174.

Biswajit, R., Brahma, B., Ghosh, S., Pankaj, P.K. & Mandal, G. 2011. Evaluation of milk urea concentration as useful indicator for dairy herd management: A review. Asian. J. Anim. Vet. Adv. 6: 1-19. DOI:10.3923/ajava.2011.1.19

Brand, A., Noordhuizen, J.P.T.M. & Schukken, Y.H. 1996. Herd Health and Production Managment in Dairy Practice. Wageningen Pers. Holanda. 466 p.

Cao, Z., Huang, W., Wang, T., Wang, Y., Wen, W., Ma, M. & Li, S. 2010. Effects of parity, days in milk, milk production and milk components on milk urea nitrogen in Chinese Holstein. Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances, 9 (4): 688-695. DOI:10.3923/javaa.2010.688.695

Carlsson, J., Bergsrtom, J. & Pehrson, B. 1995. Variations with breed, age, season, yield, stage of lactation and herd in the concentration of urea in bulk milk and individual cow’s milk. Acta. Vet. Scand. 36: 245-254.

Duffield, T.F., Kelton, D.F., Leslie, K.E., Lissemore. K.D & Lumsden, J.H. 1997. Use of test day milk fat and milk protein to detect subclinical ketosis in dairy cattle in Ontario. Can. Vet. J. 38: 713-718.

Eicher, R. 2004. Memorias del Congreso Mundial de Buiatría. [en línea]. 11-16 de julio 2004. Quebéc Canadá. http://www.ivis.org/proceedings/wbc/wbc2004/WBC2004-Eicher-simple.pdf (Consultado: 1 mar. 2012).

Geishauser, T.D., Leslie, K.E., Duffield, T.F.B & Edge, V.L. 1998. An evaluation of protein/fat ratio in first DHI test milk for prediction of subsequent displaced abomasum in dairy cows. Can. J. Vet. Res. 62: 144-147.

Godden, S.M., Lissemore, K.D., Kelton, D.F., Leslie, K.E., Walton, J.S. & Lumsden, J.H. 2001. Relationships between milk urea concentrations and nutrition management, production and economic variables. J. Dairy Sci. 84: 1128-1139. DOI: 10.3168/jds.S0022-0302(01)74573-0

González, A. & Vázquez, O. 2000. Análisis de urea en leche como indicador del balance nutritivo de la alimentación de las vacas. [en línea]. Centro de Investigaciones Agrarias Mabegondo. España. http://www.laboratoriollamas.com.ar/articulos/bovinos/Urea%20en%20Leche%20como%20indicador%20de%20nutricion.pdf. (Consultado: 8 febrero de 2012).

Heinrichs, J., Jones, C. & Bailey, K. 2005. Milk components: Understanding the causes and importance of milk fat and protein variation in your dairy herd. DAS 05-97. The Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park.

Heuer, C., Y. H. Schukken, and P. Dobbelaar. 1999. Postpartum body condition score and results from the first test day milk as predictors of disease, fertility, yield, and culling in commercial dairy herds. J. Dairy Sci. 82 (2): 295–304. DOI: 10.3168/jds.S0022-0302(99)75236-7

Hwang, S.Y., Lee, M. & Chiou, P.W. 2000. Monitoring nutritional status of dairy cows in Taiwan using milk protein and milk urea nitrogen. Asian-Aus. J. Anim. Sci. Vol: 13 (12): 1667-1673. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5713/ajas.2000.1667

Johnson, R.G., Young, A.J. 2003. The association between milk urea nitrogen and DHI production variables in western commercial dairy herds. 2003. J. Dairy Sci. 86(9):3008-3015. DOI: 10.3168/jds.S0022-0302(03)73899-5

Jonker, J.S. & Kohn, R.A. 2001. Using milk urea nitrogen to evaluate diet formulation and environmental impact on dairy farms. The Sci. World J. 1 (S2): 852-859.

Kohn, R.A., Kalscheur, K.F. & Russek-Cohen, E. 2002. Evaluation of models to estimate urinary nitrogen and expected milk urea nitrogen. J. Dairy Sci. 85(1): 227-233. DOI: 10.3168/jds.S0022-0302(02)74071-X

Kuterovac, K., Balas, S., Gantner, V., Jovanovac, S., & Dakic, A. 2005. Evaluation of nutritional status of dairy cows based on analysis results. Ital. J. Anim. Sci. 4 (S3): 33-35. DOI: 10.4081/ijas.2005.3s.33

McCormick, M.E., Chapa, A.M., Fernández, J.M. & Beatty, J.F. 2002. Milk urea nitrogen evaluation in Louisiana dairy herds. [en línea]. http://www.lsuagcenter.com/nr/rdonlyres/b197e9fb-2759-431d-867bcda77a10629b/9190/munla.pdf (Consultado: 15 mar. 2012).

Niles, D. 2010. Identifying rumen acidosis and related problems using fat/protein ratios. Canwest DHI. [en línea]. http://www.canwestdhi.com/pdf_files/february%202010%20bc%20holstein.pdf. (Consultado: 17 mar. 2012).

Noordhuizen, J.P. & Buurman, J. 1984. VAMPP: a veterinary automated management and production control programme for dairy farms (the application of MUMPS for data processing). Vet Q. 6(2): 66-72.

Noordhuizen, J.P.T.M. 2002. Memorias del XXII Congreso Internacional de Buiatría. Agosto 18-23. Hannover Alemania.

Oetzel, G.R. 2007. Preconference Seminar 7ª: Dairy Problem Investigation Strategies: Lameness, cow comfort, and ruminal acidosis. [en línea]. American Association of Bovine Practitioners. Canadá. http://www.vetmed.wisc.edu/dms/fapm/fapmtools/2nutr/sara1aabp.pdf (Consultado: 27 feb. 2012).

Padilla, R. 2010. Perfiles metabólicos en bovinos especializados en producción de leche de la raza Holstein, en la zona del Volcán Poás. Tesis de Licenciatura, Universidad Nacional, Heredia, Costa Rica.

Radostits, O. 2001. Herd Health: Food Animal Production Medicine. 3era edición. WB Saunders Company. EE.UU. 890 p.

Robinson, P. 2000. Manipulating milk protein percentage and production in lactating dairy cows. Adv Dairy Technol. [en línea]. 12:269-278. http://www.wcds.ca/proc/2000/Manuscripts/Chapter%2022%20-%20Robinson.pdf. (Consultado: 27 feb. 2012).

Romero, JJ.; Estrada, S. & Pérez, E. 2000. Uso del sistema de información VAMPP en investigaciones a gran escala. XVII Congreso Panamericano de Ciencias Veterinarias, Ciudad de Panamá, Panamá. p. 101.

Toni, F., Vincenti, L., Grigoletto, L., Ricci, A. & Schukken, Y.H. 2011. Early lactation ratio of fat and protein percentage in milk is associated with health, milk production and survival. J. Dairy Sci. 94(4):1772-1783. DOI: 10.3168/jds.2010-3389.

Van Ranst, B., Caluwaerts, T., Van der Beek, H.J. & Opsomer, G. 2008. Memorias del XXV Congreso Mundial de Buiatría. Jul 6-11. Budapest, Hungría.

Wattiaux, M.A., Nordheim, E.V. & Crump, P. 2005. Statistical evaluation of factors and interactions affecting dairy herd improvement milk urea nitrogen in commercial midwest dairy herds. J.Dairy Sci. 88: 3020-3035. DOI:10.3168/jds.S0022-0302(05)72982-9

Published

2017-01-14

How to Cite

Values for protein/fat ratio and milk urea nitrogen in milk from dairy cows in northern Alajuela and Heredia, Costa Rica. (2017). Ciencias Veterinarias, 34(2), 67-80. https://doi.org/10.15359/rcv.34-2.1

How to Cite

Values for protein/fat ratio and milk urea nitrogen in milk from dairy cows in northern Alajuela and Heredia, Costa Rica. (2017). Ciencias Veterinarias, 34(2), 67-80. https://doi.org/10.15359/rcv.34-2.1

Comentarios (ver términos de uso)

Most read articles by the same author(s)

1 2 > >>