The use of milk Fourier transform midinfrared spectra and milk yield to estimate heat production as a measure of efficiency of dairy cows

Background:Transformation of feed energy ingested by ruminants into milk is accompanied by energy losses via fecal and urine excretions,fermentation gases and heat.Heat production may differ among dairy cows despite comparable milk yield and body weight.Therefore,heat production can be considered an indicator of metabolic efficiency and directly measured in respiration chambers.The latter is an accurate but time-consuming technique.In contrast,milk Fourier transform mid-infrared(FTIR)spectroscopy is an inexpensive high-throughput method and used to estimate different physiological traits in cows.Thus,this study aimed to develop a heat production prediction model using heat production measurements in respiration chambers,milk FTIR spectra and milk yield measurements from dairy cows.Methods:Heat production was computed based on the animal’s consumed oxygen,and produced carbon dioxide and methane in respiration chambers.Heat production data included 16824-h-observations from 64 German Holstein and 20 dual-purpose Simmental cows.Animals were milked twice daily at 07:00 and 16:30 h in the respiration chambers.Milk yield was determined to predict heat production using a linear regression.Milk samples were collected from each milking and FTIR spectra were obtained with MilkoScan FT 6000.The average or milk yield-weighted average of the absorption spectra from the morning and afternoon milking were calculated to obtain a computed spectrum.A total of 288 wavenumbers per spectrum and the corresponding milk yield were used to develop the heat production model using partial least squares(PLS)regression.Results:Measured heat production of studied animals ranged between 712 and 1470 kJ/kg BW0.75.The coefficient of determination for the linear regression between milk yield and heat production was 0.46,whereas it was 0.23 for the FTIR spectra-based PLS model.The PLS prediction model using weighted average spectra and milk yield resulted in a cross-validation variance of 57%and a root mean square error of prediction of 86.5 kJ/kg BW0.75.The ratio of performance to deviation(RPD)was 1.56.Conclusion:The PLS model using weighted average FTIR spectra and milk yield has higher potential to predict heat production of dairy cows than models applying FTIR spectra or milk yield only.

Comparative methane estimation from cattle based on total CO_2 production using different techniques

The objective of this study was to compare the precision of CH4 estimates using calculated CO_2(HP) by the CO_2 method(CO_2 T) and measured CO_2 in the respiration chamber(CO_2 R). The CO_2 R and CO_2 T study was conducted as a 3 × 3 Latin square design where 3 Dexter heifers were allocated to metabolic cages for 3 periods. Each period consisted of 2 weeks of adaptation followed by 1 week of measurement with the CO_2 R and CO_2 T. The average body weight of the heifer was 226 ± 11 kg(means±SD). They were fed a total mixed ration, twice daily, with 1 of 3 supplements: wheat(W), molasses(M), or molasses mixed with sodium bicarbonate(Mbic). The dry mater intake(DMI: kg/day) was significantly greater(P < 0.001)in the metabolic cage compared with that in the respiration chamber. The daily CH4(L/day) emission was strongly correlated(r=0.78) between CO_2 T and CO_2 R. The daily CH4(L/kg DMI) emission by the CO_2 T was in the same magnitude as by the CO_2 R. The measured CO_2(L/day) production in the respiration chamber was not different(P = 0.39) from the calculated CO_2 production using the CO_2 T. This result concludes a reasonable accuracy and precision of CH4 estimation by the CO_2 T compared with the CO_2 R.