Influence of pre and postpartum alpha-tocopherol supplementation on milk yield, milk quality, and udder health of Jersey crossbred cows at tropical lower Gangetic region

Abstract

Background and Aim: Alpha-tocopherol supplementation influences milk yield, milk quality, and udder health of dairy cows, which needs to be investigated for Jersey crossbred cows at hot-humid climate. Therefore, the present study was framed with an objective to study the effect of pre and postpartum Alpha-tocopherol supplementation on milk yield, milk quality, and udder health status of Jersey crossbred cows at tropical climate. Materials and Methods: For this study, 19 similar parity, body condition score, and production level dairy animals were separated randomly into three groups, namely, Control, T1 and T2. Control group (no supplementation) was compared with two treatment groups, namely, T1 and T2. Supplementation of Alpha-tocopherol was done in concentrate fed to the animals (at 1 g/cow/day) 30 days prepartum to 30 days postpartum in T1 and 30 days prepartum to 60 days postpartum in T2 groups. Observations were taken for different parameters up to 5 months of lactation. Results: Statistically analyzed data revealed that overall significantly (p<0.01) more milk production was found in T2, followed by T1 than the control group. Overall significantly (p<0.01) lower somatic cell counts and modified California mastitis tests were recorded in T2, followed by T1 than the control group. Overall significantly (p<0.01), better milk quality in terms of methylene blue reduction test was found in T2, followed by T1 than control groups. Differences in the milk composition of all three groups were non-significant (p>0.05). Conclusion: Supplementation of Alpha-tocopherol during prepartum to initial lactation period may enhance milk yield, milk quality, and udder health status of Jersey crossbred cows at the tropical lower Gangetic region.

Udder Health Maintenance to Augment Milk Production in Dairy Cattle: A Review

“…Developed countries also suffer high financial losses which ultimately leads to culling, poor milk production, compromised udder health status and reduced reproductive performances of farm animals (Laxmi, 2016). Besides leading to heavy losses in milk production, the SCM animals may remain potent source of infection to other animals in the herd (Swami et al, 2017;Singh et al, 2020e;Garai et al, 2021, Singh et al, 2021a and causing poor udder health maintenance throughout lactation.…”

A Review on the Effects of Micronutrients in Heat Stress Alleviation in Dairy Animals

“…"Vitamin E includes a group of tocopherols and tocotrienols, among them, α-tocopherol has greater biological activity. Due to the potent antioxidant properties of tocopherols, the impact of α-tocopherol in the prevention of chronic diseases believed to be associated with oxidative stress has often been studied and beneficial effects have been observed" [62,11,63,12]. Supplementation of vitamin E along with selenium (500 IU Vitamin E + 0.3mg selenium per kg DM) alleviated heat stress in dairy cows.…”

Management of Subclinical Mastitis for Better Yield in Dairy Animals: A Review

“…As the science progressed, advancements in improved genetics, nutrition and management practices in dairy animals have been enhanced [1][2][3]. The prime priority of every dairy farmer or be it any dairy industry is higher milk quality and quantity [4][5][6]. However, SM has emerged as one of the major challenging diseases among other diseases in dairy animals [7][8][9].…”

“…Mastitis may be understood as inflammation of the mammary gland mainly due to different bacterial strains [1,4,5,12]. However, some studies also reported that SM may be caused by yeasts.…”