Effect of Feeding Yeast Culture from Different Sources on the Performance of Lactating Holstein Cows in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

One hundred-fifty lactating, multiparous cow at post-peak of lactation were used to examine the effect of dietary yeast supplementation on milk production, milk composition and ruminal fermentation. The cows were randomly allocated to three groups of fifty cows each: a control group fed on a basal diet without yeast supplementation and two groups fed on basal diets supplemented with one of two commercial sources of yeast cultures, given at the rates of 15 g/head/d (YC 1 ) and 50 g/head/d (YC 2 ), respectively, as per manufacturers' recommendation. Daily milk production was recorded for all cows, while milk samples were taken randomly from ten cows per group for two consecutive days at two-week intervals for chemical analysis of the milk. Rumen fluids were also analyzed for ammonia nitrogen and volatile fatty acids. The results indicated that cows consuming diets supplemented with yeast culture tended to decrease their dry matter intake and to increase their milk yield. Cows fed YC 2 supplemented diet produced more milk and 4% fat corrected milk than those fed either YC 1 -supplemented diet or the control. The highest milk fat percentage was obtained in cows fed YC 2 supplemented diet while the highest percentages of protein, lactose, total solids and solids not fat were recorded in cows fed YC 1 . Rumen ammonia nitrogen concentration decreased significantly after yeast culture supplementation. Molar proportion of volatile fatty acids did not change significantly with yeast supplementation.

The effect of Saccharomyces cerevisiae on ruminal fermentation in dairy cows

“…The lowest concentration of ammonia was recorded after the application of 2 g (8.12 ± 0.07 mmol/l) while after the application of 8 and 10 g of yeast culture the observed effect was the same (9.00 ± 0.08 mmol/l). The obtained results corroborate earlier observations published by Lyons (1993), Putnam et al (1997), Biricik and Yavuz (2001), Alshaikh et al (2002), Kamra et al (2002), Nursoy and Baytok (2003) and Strohlein (2003), who did not find any significant effects of the added yeast product on ammonia content in rumen fluid while Newbold et al (1996) and Sullivan and Martin (1999) demonstrated its increase. As mentioned in many papers, the intensity of bacterial synthesis in rumen was closely correlated with the amount of available energy and also depended on the activity of bacterial microorganisms.…”

“…These results correspond with data published by other authors (Lyons, 1993;Brydl et al, 1995Brydl et al, , 1998Doreau and Jouany, 1998;Pestevsek et al, 1998;Sullivan and Martin, 1999;Kamra et al, 2002;and others). On the other hand, in their experiments Putnam et al (1997), Biricik and Yavuz (2001) and Alshaikh et al (2002) did not find any marked changes in the production of ruminal VFA after the application of yeast cultures. The regression analysis revealed a very close relationship between the content of VFA and the dose of yeast culture (r = 0.956).…”

“…Some papers informed about significant effects of yeast cultures on fermentation under specific anaerobic conditions existing in rumen. Numerous studies (Sune et al, 1998;Alshaikh et al, 2002;Lila et al, 2004 and others) documented positive effects of yeast cultures not only on the rumen environment of dairy cows but also on the improvement of microbial activities. According to Blake (1993), yeast cultures obviously improve the cellulolytic activities of rumen microorganisms in such a way that they increase their total numbers, improve fibre digestion, reduce lactate accumulation, reduce the concentration of oxygen in rumen fluid and improve utilisation of starch supplied in the feeding ration.…”

Effect of feeding yeast culture on ruminal fermentation and blood indicators of Holstein dairy cows

“…under the conditions of our experiment the yeast supplement did not result in a better utilization of ammonia. These results are in line with observations published by Guedes et al (2008), but are not in accordance with results of Alshaikh et al (2002). On the other hand, a significantly (P < 0.01) favourable effect of yeast culture supplement was demonstrated upon the average abundance of rumen infusorians.…”

“…Qualitative indicators of total mixed ration culture at the above mentioned concentration did not increase the production of VFAs, but experimental cows exhibited significantly lower VFA values (P < 0.01) than cows in the control group. Our results differ from Guedes et al (2008), on the other hand, they are in line with conclusions published by Alshaikh et al (2002), who either did not find any larger changes in the production of rumen VFAs or even detected a lower production of VFAs. Highly significant was the increase (P < 0.01) in the proportion of acetic acid and the decrease in the ratio of propionic and butyric acids compared to the control group.…”