Milk Conjugated Linoleic Acid Response to Fish Oil and Linseed Oil Supplementation of Grazing Dairy Cows (Report‪)‬

ABSTRACT: The effect of supplementing the diet of grazing dairy cows with fish oil (FO) and linseed oil (LSO) on milk conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) was investigated. Sixteen Holstein cows (170[+ or -]19 DIM) were assigned into two groups and fed a grain supplement (8.0 kg/d; DM basis) containing 800 g of saturated animal fat (CONT) or 200 g FO and 600 g LSO (FOLSO). All cows grazed together on Sudan grass pasture ad libitum and were fed the treatment diets for 3 wks. Cows were milked twice a day and milk samples were collected during the last three days of the trial. Milk production (24.89 and 22.45 kg/d), milk protein percentage (2.76 and 2.82) and milk protein yield (0.68 and 0.64 kg/d) for the CONT and FOLSO diets, respectively, were not affected (p0.05) by treatment diets. Milk fat percentage (3.90 and 2.86) and milk fat yield (0.97 and 0.64 kg/d) were lower (p0.05) with the FOLSO diet compared with the CONT diet. The concentration and yield of milk cis-9 trans-11 CLA were higher (p0.05) with the FOLSO diet (2.56% of total FA and 16.44 g/d, respectively) than the CONT diet (0.66% of total FA and 6.44 g/d, respectively). The concentrations of milk trans C18:1 and vaccenic acid (VA) were higher (p0.05) with the FOLSO diet (13.53 and 7.48% of total FA, respectively) than the CONT diet (3.69 and 2.27% of total FA, respectively). In conclusion, supplementing the diet of grazing cows with FO and LSO increased milk cis-9 trans-11 CLA content but reduced milk fat content and yield. (Key Words : Dairy, Pasture, Milk, CLA, Fish Oil, Linseed Oil)