The Effects of Underfeeding on Milk Secretion

THE

EFFECTS

OF UNDERFEEDING SECRETION

ON

MILK

ARTHUR C. RAGSDALE AND CHARLES W. T U R N E R

Department of Dairy Husbandry, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri Received for publication, February 12, 1923

It has been shown by Eckles and Palmer (1) that underfeeding has a marked influence on the composition of milk. They recognize three types of underfeeding: (a) the withdrawal of a certain portion of the total food of the animal, (b) the reduction to a normal plane of animals on a supernormal plane of nutrition, and (c) the physiological underfeeding resulting from the strong stimulus for milk secretion during a number of days after parturition when it is not possible for the appetite of the cow to supply the demands for nutrients to support both the milk flow and her body weight. It was found in all of their experiments that a high fat test accompanied the reduction in the plane of nutrition; and the effect was greatest in the cases of greatest reduction. The increase in the percentage of fat was especially m~rked when the cow had been on the supernormal plane of nutrition for a considerable period before the reduction of the plane. The influence of physiological underfeeding (2) has been recognized in ms l~ing large short time official records during which time an abnormally high test results. The object of this paper is to present data showing the effect of the first two types of underfeeding especially as they affect the reliability of the two-day semi-official yearly record. Three cows, a Jersey, a Holstein-Freisian, and an Ayrshire, in the first half of their lactation period were selected for the first experiment. Before being placed on experiment, it was found that the cows were on a supernormal plane of nutrition as determined by weighing all hay, grain and silage during a threeday preliminary period. 251 JOURNAL OF DAIRY 8CIENCEf VOL. VI, NO.

252

ARTHUR C° RAGSDALEAND CHARLES W. TURNER

Following the preliminary period, the cows were put on a ration calculated to furnish as nearly as possible exact requirements as determined by the feeding standards, They received a ration composed of alfalfa hay, silage, and a grain mixture. This ration was continued for ten days. One half of each constituent in the ration was then removed and the reduced ration continued for ten days. The original amount of feed was then agnjn gradually given. The results are shown in table 1 and chart 1. It will be seen that there is a very decided increase in the per cent of fat in the milk when the ration was reduced one-haft. The maximum per cent of fat occurred during either the second or third day after the reduction in feed was made. While there was some variation in the tests after reaching the high point, they remained considerably above normal during the remainder of the period. As soon as the cows were put back on full feed, the per cent of fat in each case went down very rapidly and decidedly and remained considerably below normal during the following ten day period. The quantity of milk produced was decidedly affected in the opposite way. The greatest reduction in milk occurred the second day after the reduction in the feed, followed by a gradual decline throughout the period. When the cows were brought back to full feed they gradually increased in production but did not reach that of the three day preliminary period during the following ten days. The increase in the per cent of fat was not sumcient to cause an increase in the total amount of fat due to the reduction of milk. The weight of the cows in the group was reduced considerably during the reduction in the feed, averaging 78 pounds per cow. It is commonly thought that a feverish condition of a cow m~y be a cause of the increase in the per cent of fat in the milk. To determine whether underfeeding would cause a feverish condition, the temperatures of the animals were taken at each milldng. The figure recorded is the average of these readings. It will be noted that feed reduction did not produce a feverish

EFFECTS OF U N D E R F E E D I N G ON MILK SECRETION TABLE

253

1

The effect o/feed reduction on milk s~retion DATE

i AVERAGE [ MILK P E R DAY

19~0

i

pounds

"1 .

38.7 40.3 39.7

4.051 3.869 , 4.259

1.569 1.561 1.692

39.6

4.059

1.607

40.3 37.8 36.7 37.5 36.5 36.8 35.8 34.4 36.5 34.2

3.862 4.070 4.280 4.052 3.916 4.062 3.918 4.304 3.615 3.777

1.558 1.539 1.572 1.521 1.430 1.495 1.402 1.481 1.318 1.293

36.7

3.985

1.461

36.8 ~8.6 28.1 27.3 25.8 25.0 24.8 25.7 25.5 2~. 4

3.772 4.500 4.849 4.494 4.366 4.531 4.5gl 4.440 4.687 4. 560

1.387 1. 289 1.363 1. 227 1.127 1.131 I. 140 1.141 1.194 1.120

'27.2

4.453

1.212

13.. 14. 15. 16... 17.. 18.. 19.. 20 . . . . 21... 22 ....

23.6 28.1 28.9 31.4 33.8 32.8 33.2 34.1 35.2 34.3

4.363 3. 801 3.717 3.673 3.710 3.625 3.624 3.582 3.563 3.823

1.031 1. 067 1.073 1.153 1. 254 1.189 1.203 1.222 1.254 1.313

Average...

31.5

3. 728

1.176

February 19 . . . . February 20. F e b r u a r y 21 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Average . . . . . . . . . . . February 22 . . . . . . February 23. February24. February 25. February 26. F e b r u a r y 27. February 28. February 29. .VIarch 1. .VIarch 2.

"I "il .~ i

Average. .Vlareh .~Iarch YIareh YIareh .Ylarch .YIarch .Vfareh ~arch .VIarch .VIareh

3. 4 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.. 11.. 12..

Average. ~Iareh Ylareh .%Iareh March .VIarch YIarch YIarch March March March

. .

. .~ .~

TRUE AVERAOE FAT

AVERAGE FAT P E R DAY

per c~nt

pounds

BODY TEMPEI~A° ~RE

A Y E m A G1~ W]~IG]~J~ OF COW8

pounds

101.03 101.22 101.00 884 101.03 100.77 100.77 100.86 100.78 100.07 100.57 100.77 101.02 100.62 891 101.09 100.27 100.46 100.11 100.66 lOOt.~/0 101.66 102.03 100.62 813 101.20 100.89 101.27 100.84 101.01 101.12 101.02 IOO. 89 100.82 101.04 900

254

ARTHUR C. RAGSDALE AND CHARLES W. TURNER

CHART I

EFFECTS OF UNDERFEEDING ON MILK SECRETION

255

condition of the animals during the ten days of the reduction. One cow bloated during this period and showed a slightly increased temperature for three days. These results show that there is a considerable increase in the per cent of fat during the second and third days following feed reduction. As only three cows were used, the results were checked by using a larger number of animals in varying stages of lactation. Table 2 gives a description of the cows. During a three day preliminary a full feed was given similar to that previously fed and complete records were kept. The fourth day each constituent of the feed was cut exactly 50 per TABLE 2

Description of cows COW N U M B E R

64 110 121 129 275 282 288 325

M O I ~ H OF L&CTA~ION

B~,EED

Jersey Jersey Jersey Jersey Holstein Holstein Holstein Ayrshire

AVERAGE DAILY MILK I'RODUCTION A T f~JPART OF ]LXPERIMEN'I~

35 25 14 24 32 19 10 34

cent. This feed reduction was continued for three days, after which the plane of feeding was again returned to normal. Table 3 shows the results. It will be seen that the per cent of fat again showed a very decided increase by the third day on the reduced ration. This increase was followed by a decrease in the per cent of fat shortly after the feed was returned to normal. The flow of milk did not appear to be reduced as much in this experiment as in the year previous. This is partly accounted for by the fact that some of the cows were more advanced in lactation and were not producing heavily. It appears that the cows producing large amounts of milk are affected more by the cut in the feed than those producing only a limited amount of milk.

256

ARTHUR C. RAGSDALE AND CHARLES W. T U R N E R

The total fat production was not increased by the feed reduction as the milk flow was sufficiently reduced to counterbalance the effect of the increase in the per cent of fat. The findings indicate that in the case of cows on yearly test the average per cent of fat during the two-day test can be influenced by reducing the feed of cows on test two days previous. In view of the peculiar effect of underfeeding on the per cent of fat, this factor should be considered in interpreting data on TABLE 3

The eff~t of feed reduction on milk s~retion

DATE

AVERAGE DAILY MILK

!PRODUCTIOI~'--

8 cows

TRUE AVERAGE FAT--8 COWS

AVERAGE DALLY F A T PRODUCTION---

8 cows

MEAN ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE F O R WHE ~vW'ENTY-FOUR HOURS

cent

.VIarch 12 .VIarch 13. .VIarch 14 . . . . . . .

23.02 24.61 24.98

4.805 4.514 4.384

1.106 1.111 1.095

50 57 60

Ylarch 15. Ylarch 16 . . . . . March 17

24 70 22.08 21.20

4.700 4.524 5.137

1.161 0.999 1.089

60 47 58

March March March March March March March

21.51 23.56 23.76 23.50 23.07 22.56 23.17

4.826 4.334 4.192 4.268 4.516 4.486 4.536

1.038 1.021 O. 996 1.003 1.042 1.012 1.051

64 70 69 41 43 48 55

18. 19... 20... 21. 22.. 23. 24..

the possibility of increasing the per cent of fat by the administration of drugs. If cows go off-feed due to the administration of drugs there is the possibility of the per cent of fat increasing due to the self-reducing plane of nutrition as well as to the influence of the drugs. The effect of underfeeding as it influences experiments of other types was shown very clearly in work being carried on at this station (3) to show the correlation between the atmospheric temperature and the per cent of fat in milk. The data up to the

EFFECTS OF U N D E R F E E D I N G ON MILK SECRETION

I

I

I

257

~,

I

D R Y 5 H~/_#- t?~9T / O N

ON THE ,~VER,~E >','eLD ~ c o M ~ T i o , or

v

THZ- MJJ Z O , = ' ~ , ' ~ 7 - '~

cows

!7b -

-

""x ×- milk - ~ - percenfdge

'vj kso~'/e" ~al"

~f

- obso/ule f~f

II

12.1~141Jlel

~- Fu// P#tlOn

/\

71

\ ala

. I. t / o / f Aaolgbn : I= f u l l

z~y~

CHART 2

time the cows were placed on pasture indicate that there was a causative relation between temperature and the percentage of fat in milk, showing roughly an increase of about 0.15 per cent of fat for a decrease in the temperature of 10°F, The cows on

258

ARTHUR

C. R A G S D A L E A N D

CHARLES

W.

TURNER

this experiment were turned to pasture May 3, 1921. Table 4 shows that there was a significant increase in the per cent of fat following that day which could not be accounted for by the temperature. It is believed that the underlying cause of the increase was due to underfeeding resulting from the fact that TABLE

4

The effect of pasture on the per cent

of fat

MEAN ATMO ~ P H E R I C TEMPERATURE FOR TWENTY-FOUR HOURS

in

milk

TOTAL MILK PER DAY-AVERAGE

10 cows

TRUE A V E R A G E FAT PER DAY-AVERAGE

10 cows per cent

April April April April April April

23 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A p r i l 29 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . April 30 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . May 1.................................. M a y 2 ...................................

65 73 71 50 32 50 50 53 46 46

26.16 26.47 26.35 25.95 25.95 24.93

4.63 4.72 4.83 4.64 4.86 4.77

25.72 25.37 24.6

4.73 4.85 5.26

24.1 24.9 24.4 24.6 27.5 24.2 25.5 24.8 25.3 26.0 27.3

5.19 5.19 5.50 5.28 5.20 5.31 5.20 5.47 4.82 5.24 5.01

Cows turned to pasture M~by

,3 ..................................

May 4 .................................. May 5 ................................. M a y 6 ................................... M~y

7 ...................................

May May May May May May

8 ................................... 9 ................................... 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

47 51 56 58 60 58 63 62 60 63 60

fresh pasture grass has a high water content which makes it impossible for a high producing cow to consume sufficient nutrients to satisfy her requirements. Furthermore it takes some time for the animals to become accustomed to foraging after stall feeding during the winter. This results in underfeeding for a short time with the resulting affect on the per cent of fat.

E F F E C T S OF U N D E R F E E D I N G

ON M I L K S E C R E T I O N

259

SUMMARY

It was shown that when the ration fed to dairy cows was reduced 50 per cent that there was a decided increase in the per cent of fat in the milk. The peak of the increase in the per cent of fat was reached about the third day. The per cent of fat remained abnormally high as long as the reduced ration was continued (ten days). When the ration was brought back to normal the per cent of fat decreased and remained below that of the preliminary period during the entire ten-day period. The quantity of milk produced was reduced, the amount of reduction depending on the length of the feeding period and the stage of the lactation period. The total yield of fat was not significantly changed. Underfeeding did not appear to cause a feverish condition of the udder. The effect of underfeeding should be taken into consideration in interpreting data on feeding trials of short duration, the effect of drugs on the per cent of fat, pasture experiments, and other experiments of this type where significance is placed upon a variation in the per cent of fat. CONCLUSIONS

1. It is possible to materially increase the per cent of fat in the milk of cows during the two-day test made in connection with yearly semi-official records. Greater care should, thereSore, be exercised by those in charge of this work to prevent advance information reaching the breeder as to the exact time the test will start. 2. As the total a.mount of fat is not materially increased, and may be decreased it is of little or no value to reduce the feed on a seven day test in an attempt to increase the total daily production of fat.

260

ARTHUR C. RAGSDALE AND CHARLES W. TURNER REFERENCES

(1) ECXLES, C. H., AND PAT.~rZR, L. S. 1916 The in~uence of the plane of nutrition of the cow upon the composition and properties of milk and butter fat. The influence of Underfeeding. Mo. Research Bul. 25. (2) ECF~ES, C . H . 1909 Influence of fatness of cow at parturition on per cent of fat in milk. Mo. Agr. Exp. Sta. Bul. 100. (3) RAGSDALE, .4-. C., AND BRODT, SAMUEL 1922 The effect of temperature on the percentage of fat in milk. A first report. Jour. of Dairy Science, v, no. 2, 212-215.