Effects of Maternal Protein Supplementation at Mid-Gestation of Cows on Intake, Digestibility, and Feeding Behavior of the Offspring

Abstract

This study aimed to assess the effects of maternal protein supplementation and offspring sex (OS) on the intake parameters of the offspring. Forty-three Tabapuã cows were randomly allocated in the following treatments: protein supplementation (PS) during days 100–200 of gestation (RES, 5.5% total crude protein (CP), n = 2, or CON, 10% total CP, n = 19) and OS (females, n = 20; males, n = 23). The offspring were evaluated during the cow–calf (0–210 days), backgrounding (255–320 days), growing 1 (321–381 days), and growing 2 (382–445 days) phases. The CON offspring tended to present higher dry matter intake (DMI) at weaning (p = 0.06). The CON males presented lower digestibility of major diet components in the growing 2 phase (p ≤ 0.02). The CON offspring spent 52% more time per day eating supplements at 100 days and 17% less time in idleness at 210 days. The CON males spent 15 min more per day ruminating than RES males in the feedlot phase (p = 0.01). We concluded that protein supplementation over gestation alters the offspring feed intake pattern as a whole, while protein restriction promotes compensatory responses on nutrient digestibility in males.

Protein Supplementation during Mid-Gestation Alters the Amino Acid Patterns, Hepatic Metabolism, and Maternal Skeletal Muscle Turnover of Pregnant Zebu Beef Cows

“…Both repetitions had the same experimental procedures. Details of the experimental design were previously described by Nascimento et al [ 18 ] and Meneses [ 24 ]. Briefly, 52 multiparous Tabapuã beef cows ( Bos taurus indicus , yr 1: n = 25; yr 2: n = 27) were inseminated.…”

“…Nitrogen-based supplementation improves low-quality pasture digestibility, leading to positive associative effects on the dry matter intake of ruminants [ 14 , 15 , 16 ]. This condition reflects greater nutrient availability for maternal gain, improving the pregnant component’s weight (as a fetus, amniotic fluid, placenta, and uterus) and the calf’s birth weight [ 17 , 18 ]. Moreover, the mid-gestation represents an opportunity to perform strategic protein supplementation for breeding herds.…”

Development of the gastrointestinal tract of newborn goats under maternal feed restriction at different stages of gestation

“…Consistently, Hammer et al (2011) reported that lambs from ewes subjected to nutritional restriction had better immunoglobulin absorption efficiency during the first hours after birth, while Meyer et al (2010) demonstrated that intestines of fetuses of restricted dams presented increased proliferation and vascularization. Available evidence demonstrated greater nutrient digestibility in the feedlot phase for male offspring from dams fed low protein levels during mid-gestation (Nascimento et al, 2022) and that moderate protein restriction during mid and late gestation resulted in greater gut expression of genes involved with glucose and fatty acids metabolism (Cruz et al, 2019).…”