Effects of live yeast and Aspergillus niger meal extracted supplementation on milk yield, feed efficiency and nutrients digestibility in Holstein lactating cows

Abstract

Twenty four Holstein cows in early lactation (days in milk: 24±4) were allocated equally to one of four treatments. Treatments were as follows: control basal diet without supplement; L Y basal diet supplemented with 10 g of live yeast; ANX basal diet supplemented with 30 g of Aspergillus niger extracted meal and LY+ANX basal diet supplemented with 10 g L Y and 30 g ANX. Daily individual milk production and feed intake recorded and weekly milk samples were taken for milk composition analyse. Fecal grab samples were collected during 3 consecutive days at the end of experiment period from each cow. The experimental period lasted 75 days. Milk production was improved by 6.8% for group fed the LY compared control diet (p<0.05). Fat-corrected milk, feed efficiency, body weight and body condition score changes and DM intake were similar between groups. Greater protein yield and percentage were observed in the LY and LY+ANX groups compared to the control group (p<0.05). No differences were observed in other milk composition between groups. The apparent digestibility of DM and OM were higher (p<0.05) in the LY+ANX supplemented diet compared to the control. Similar to DM and organic matter digestibility, greater NDF apparent digestibility was observed in the LY+ANX supplemented diet versus the control that might be due to synergistic effects of feeding LY and ANX together. We concluded that L Y might have potential as an effective direct-fed microbial to increase milk production in early lactating cows. © Medwell Journals, 2010.