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Effect of pregnancy and feeding level on voluntary intake, digestion, and microbial nitrogen synthesis in Zebu beef cows

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Abstract

The objective of this research was to evaluate how pregnancy and feeding regimens affect the feed intake, digestibility, and efficiency of microbial nitrogen (N) synthesis in beef cows. Forty-four multiparous Nellore cows, comprising 32 gestating and 12 non-gestating cows, with an average weight of 451 ± 10 kg, were assigned to either a HIGH (ad libitum) or LOW (limited feeding at 1.2 times maintenance based on the NRC) feeding regimen during the gestational period. The dry matter intake (DMI) in kg/d was significantly greater (P < 0.01) in HIGH-fed cows. The DMI reduced (P < 0.05) in proportion to the shrunk body weight (SBW) as days of pregnancy (DOP) increased. The interaction between feeding level and DOP was significant (P < 0.05) for the digestibility of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), N compounds, ether extract (EE), ash- and protein-free neutral detergent fiber (NDFap), gross energy (GE), and total digestible nutrients (TDN). Except for DM and TDN digestibility, there was a reduced nutrient digestibility as gestation progressed in HIGH-fed cows. In contrast, digestibility increased as a function of DOP in LOW-fed cows. Microbial N synthesis (g/day) was significantly higher in HIGH-fed cows (P < 0.001) compared to LOW-fed cows. The efficiency of microbial N production per g of N intake and kg of digestible OM intake was (P = 0.021) and tended (P = 0.051) to be greater in LOW-fed cows compared to HIGH-fed cows. In summary, HIGH-fed Nellore cows reduce feed intake and digestibility with advancing gestation, affecting feed utilization. In addition, LOW-fed cows, showed higher microbial protein synthesis efficiency, potentially making them more nutrient-efficient under challenging nutritional conditions.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and analyzed during the current study will be available upon reasonable request based on university standards.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq, Brazil), Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG, Brazil) and Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia – Ciência Animal (INCT-CA, Brazil).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Animal Science, Universidade Federal de Lavras, Lavras, MG, 37203-202, Brazil

    Mateus Pies Gionbelli, Tathyane Ramalho Santos Gionbelli, German Dario Ramirez-Zamudio, Karolina Batista Nascimento & Thais Correia Costa

  2. Department of Animal Biosciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1, Canada

    Marcio de Souza Duarte

  3. Department of Animal Science, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, MG, 36570-900, Brazil

    Sebastião de Campos Valadares Filho

  4. Department of Agriculture and Food Science, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, Kentucky, 42101-1066, USA

    Luiz Henrique Pereira Silva

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  1. Mateus Pies Gionbelli
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  7. Karolina Batista Nascimento
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study's conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Mateus Pies Gionbelli, Marcio de Souza Duarte, Tathyane Ramalho Santos Gionbelli, and Luiz Henrique Pereira Silva. Sebastião de Campos Valadares Filho was responsible for managing the resources of this project and supervising it. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Mateus Pies Gionbelli and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Mateus Pies Gionbelli.

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All procedures involving animal care and management were approved by the Animal Care and Use Committee of the Department of Animal Science of the Universidade Federal de Viçosa – Brazil (protocol number: 047/2012).

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Gionbelli, M.P., de Souza Duarte, M., de Campos Valadares Filho, S. et al. Effect of pregnancy and feeding level on voluntary intake, digestion, and microbial nitrogen synthesis in Zebu beef cows. Trop Anim Health Prod 56, 41 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-024-03888-1

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