The objective of this study was to evaluate the milk production, composition, milk fatty acid profile, butter texture and blood parameters of Holstein cows fed corn silage and concentrate containing one of the following: ground sunflower seeds; ground sunflower seeds treated with 50 g of lignosulfonate/kg of sunflower dry matter; pelleted sunflower seeds; or ground sunflower seeds pelleted and treated with 50 g of lignosulfonate/kg of sunflower dry matter. Four lactating cows were used, each with 130±28 days in lactation and a body weight of 569±63 kg. These animals were distributed in a Latin square design with four periods of 21 days each, with 14 days of adaptation and seven days of data collection. The diets were formulated to meet nutritional requirements and had a forage:concentrate ratio of 60:40. The milk fat was lower in the pelleted treatments. The concentrations of 16:1 n-11 and trans18:1 n-9 in the milk increased, and the n-6:n-3 ratio was higher for the pelleted treatments. The firmness and adhesiveness of the butter and the blood parameters analyzed were not affected by the treatments. Addition of lignosulfonate is not effective in protecting polyunsaturated fatty acids from the ruminal biohydrogenation process, and the pelleting process has little effect on the milk fatty acid profile and can not change the butter texture.

The objective of this study was to evaluate intake, in vitro and apparent digestibility and ruminal parameters of Holstein cows that were confined and fed corn silage and concentrate containing: ground sunflower seeds (GS); ground sunflower seeds treated with 5% lignosulfonate (GSL); pelleted sunflower seeds (PS); or ground and pelleted sunflower seeds treated with lignosulfonate (PSL). Four lactating cows with 130±28 days of lactation and body weights of 569±63 kg were used. These animals were distributed in a Latin square design with four diets and four periods of 21 days each. There were no differences in the intakes (% body weight) of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), mineral matter (MM), crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF) or acid detergent fiber (ADF). The apparent digestibility of DM, OM, CP, EE, NDF, ADF and NFC were similar for all the diets, with a tendency towards decreased CP digestibility for all the pelleted diets (65.79%) compared with the non-pelleted diets (69.66%). A negative effect of lignosulfonate was observed for the in vitro digestibility (IVD) of DM, and a negative tendency was observed for the IVD of OM. Pelleting decreased the concentration of acetic acid (55.95 × 58.82 mM) in rumen fluid. There was no effect of diet on pH (6.17) or ammonia nitrogen concentration (18.19 mg/dL). Pelleting and lignosulfonate do not promote the protective effect of sunflower seed nutrients as expected, and it may be more feasible to provide ground sunflower seed.

Os objetivos deste trabalho foram avaliar os efeitos de três dietas, com balanços catiônicos-aniônicos da dieta (BCAD) de +122,1, -8,8 e -110,4 mEq/kg de MS, fornecidas durante quatro semanas antes do parto para os grupos 1, 2 e 3, respectivamente, sobre as concentrações de cálcio iônico (CaI) e cálcio total (CaT) plasmáticos, a incidência de hipocalcemia subclínica e o pH urinário. Foram utilizadas 21 vacas em um delineamento experimental inteiramente casualizado no esquema de parcela subdividida, com sete repetições. As amostras de plasma foram colhidas no início da dieta, até 12 horas após o parto e com 1, 2, 3 e 7 dias depois do parto, denominadas de períodos de colheitas 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 e 6, respectivamente. As amostras de urina foram colhidas semanalmente e agrupadas em três períodos para a análise, sendo o período 1 correspondente ao início do experimento e os períodos 2 e 3 as colheitas realizadas entre 20 e 11 dias e entre 10 e 1 dias antes do parto, respectivamente. Não houve diferença na incidência de hipocalcemia subclínica entre os grupos. Os níveis de CaI e CaT plasmáticos diferiram significativamente entre os períodos de colheitas. O dia do parto teve os menores valores de CaT (7,52 mg/dL) e de CaI (3,974 mg/dL). O pH urinário diferiu significativamente entre as dietas, períodos de colheitas e interação dieta e períodos de colheitas. O grupo 3 apresentou o menor valor de pH urinário no período de colheita 2 (7,238) em relação ao período 1 (8,094) e em relação ao grupo 1 (8,045) para o mesmo período. O fornecimento da dieta aniônica não teve efeito sobre as concentrações de CaI e CaT, reduziu o pH urinário e não impediu a ocorrência de hipocalcemia subclínica.

The objective of the present experiment was to evaluate the effect of three different dietary levels of cation-anion balance (DCAB) (+122.1; -8.8; and -110.4 mEq/kg DM) offered for four weeks to groups 1, 2 and 3, respectively, on the plasma levels of ionized calcium (iCa) and total calcium (tCa), the incidence of subclinic hypocalcemia and the urine pH. Twenty-one Holstein cows were assigned to a split plot in time design with seven replications; DCAB was effects in the main plot, and sampling period was effects in the subplot. Plasma samples were collected from the jugular vein at the beginning of treatment and until 12 hours, 1, 2, 3 and 7 days after calf birth (sampling periods 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, respectively). Urine samples were taken weekly from the beginning of treatment until delivery and were grouped, for the analysis, in three periods. Period 1 is the initiation of the treatment, period 2 extends from 11 to 20 days prepartum, and period 3 extends from 10 days before until the day of delivery. Incidence of subclinic hypocalcemia did not differ between groups. There was no significant effect of treatment or of the interaction between treatment and sampling period on the plasma levels of iCa or tCa, but there was a significant difference on those levels for the sampling period. The lowest levels of both iCa (3.974 mg/dL) and tCa (7.52 mg/dL) were observed at the day of delivery. Urine pH varied significantly among treatments, sampling period and their interaction. Group 3 showed the lowest pH value at sampling period 2 (7.238) compared to period 1 (8.094) and to group 1 (8.045) for the same period. Feeding an anionic diet, by the inclusion of anionic salts to the concentrate feed, had no effect on plasma concentrations of iCa and tCa, reduced urine pH and did not prevent the occurrence of subclinic hypocalcemia.