Milk production and fatty acid profile of dairy cows grazing four grass species pastures during the rainy season in small-scale dairy systems in the highlands of Mexico

• Published in: Tropical animal health and production 2018-12, Vol.50 (8), p.1797-1805
• Main Authors: Plata-Reyes, D. A., Morales-Almaraz, E., Martínez-García, C. G., Flores-Calvete, G., López-González, F., Prospero-Bernal, F., Valdez-Ruiz, C. L., Zamora-Juárez, Y. G., Arriaga-Jordán, C. M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animal Feed - analysis; Animals; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Cattle; Clover; Continuous grazing; Dairy cattle; Dairying - methods; Digestibility; Fatty acids; Fatty Acids - chemistry; Female; Grasses; Grazing; Lactation; Life Sciences; Linoleic Acids, Conjugated - chemistry; Lolium; Mexico; Milk; Milk - chemistry; Milk production; Pasture; Poaceae; Polyunsaturated fatty acids; Rain; Rainy season; Random Allocation; Regular Articles; Seasons; Systems analysis; Trifolium; Trifolium repens; Veterinary Medicine/Veterinary Science; Zoology
• ISSN: 0049-4747; 1573-7438
• DOI: 10.1007/s11250-018-1621-8

The study evaluated small-scale dairy systems with continuous grazing of pastures based on three temperate grasses festulolium (FL), tall fescue (TF), and perennial ryegrass (RG), compared with subtropical kikuyu grass (KG). All pastures were associated with white clover ( Trifolium repens L.). Twelve multiparous Holstein cows were assigned to a 4 × 4 Latin square replicated three times with 14-day experimental periods. Sampling and analyses of pastures, concentrates, and animal variables followed standard procedures. FL showed a significantly ( p   0.05) in net herbage accumulation. There were significant differences ( p   0.05) between treatments for milk yield and composition, live weight, or body condition score. There were significant differences ( p