Vol. 8, Issue 9 (2019)

Author(s):
AJ Shankare Gowda and M Devaraj

Abstract:
The present study was under taken to evaluate the influence of propylene glycol, bypass fat and bypass protein on body condition in early lactating cows. A total of twenty eight postpartum dairy cows were randomly allotted to four groups with seven animals in each group. The Group-I (T⁰) animals served as control without being fed any feed supplement. Group-II (T¹) animals received propylene glycol once daily as a drench at the rate of 300 ml per head while Group-III (T²) and Group-IV (T³⁾ animals were fed 100 and 200 g of commercially available bypass fat and bypass protein respectively. In all the experimental groups, the mean body condition score (BCS) remained unaltered on day 14 and 7 prepartum and reduced immediate to calving (day 0). Subsequent to calving, the mean BCS reduced to reach lowest score on day 56 postpartum in T⁰, T¹ and T³ while, it was lowest on day 42 postpartum in T² animals with no further reduction by day 63 postpartum. BCS showed no significant (P≤0.05) stage variation between groups up to day 35 postpartum. BCS tended to be low in control and T² animals from day 42 postpartum with no significant difference between groups on day 56 and 63 postpartum. The mean BCS recorded at different stages of the study both in treatment and control animals appears to be normal as it was within the recommended range.