Bypass Fats – More Than ME
Traditionally used as a concentrated metabolisable energy (ME) source, bypass fats are a highly flexible way to boost your herd’s energy at this time of the year. Take Golden Flake® for example – it contains 37MJME/kgDM, compared to most other feeds and pasture that range from 10-13MJME/kgDM. A typical dose is 200-300g/cow/day, and takes up very little room in the rumen, reducing the risk of pasture substitution which is a very real problem as pasture NDF (fibre) levels climb as we reach their heading dates.
Importantly, energy from bypass fats do not put any extra pressure on the liver – the fatty acids are immediately available for use by the tissues once they enter the bloodstream.
All of these reasons are why Golden Flake® is a regularly used from calving through to the end of mating on many dairy farms in NZ.
Fertility benefits beyond ME
Most of us know the benefits of getting cows into a positive energy balance to increase the chances of reproductive success. It therefore makes sense to use bypass fats for this purpose. However what else do we know about fat supplementation and fertility?
In a paper by Staples et al (1998)1 they reported that increasing intake of essential fatty acids (C18:1, C18:2, C18:3 etc) have been shown to:
- Increase the size of ovulatory follicles (cycling activity)
- Increase plasma concentration of progesterone (holds the pregnancy)
- Decrease prostaglandin metabolites (holds the pregnancy)
What this means is that supplementing bypass fats such as Golden Flake®, which is high in C18 fats can provide more than just ME, it also is a source of important precursors for the production of reproductive hormones!
This also highlights how bypass fats can be useful to support both cycling activity as well as holding and maintaining pregnancies. As shown in Figure 1, most embryonic loss happens in the first 27 days and that low levels of P4 (progesterone) can play a role.
A highly flexible supplement
Being rumen bypass means they don’t interfere with rumen function or increase the risk of acidosis. This means bypass fats can offer a huge amount of flexibility, for example:
- Targeting light cows or late calvers or young cows
- Adding in when weather conditions are poor
- Safely boosting ME when you are already high in sugars and starches
- Feeding while pasture is going to seed and becoming fibrous
- Using during heat stress conditions to reduce heat loading on the rumen and increase ME as cows reduce intake during hot/humid weather
- Golden Flake® is highly palatable and can be seamlessly incorporated into existing feed rations.
1 Staples CR, Burke JM, Thatcher WW (1998). Influence of supplemental fats on reproductive tissues and performance of lactating cows. Journal of Dairy Science 81(3):856–71
2 Wiltbank, MC, et al. (2016). Pivotal periods for pregnancy loss during the first trimester of gestation in lactating dairy cows. Theriogenology, 86(1)
Further reading on this topic
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