ISSUE FOCUS 64 FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE October 2024 with higher levels of Lactobacilli and laboratory and field studies in lactating ruminants including cows, sheep and goats have all shown substantial reductions in somatic cell counts and improved udder health. nu.biom BOS BOOSTS DAIRY PERFORMANCE Milk production and quality is sensitive to intestinal health. Poor gut health leads to reduced efficiency of nutrient use and rumen imbalance resulting in poor performance, increased incidence of disease and potentially mortality. Efficient nutrient digestion is important to maintain gut microbial homeostasis and avoid conditions such as acidosis, hypoglycaemia or diarrhea. In a field study of 9 Italian dairy farms (average 320 cows/ farm), the supplementation of TMR with nu.biom BOS (6-10 g/ head/day) resulted in improved fibre digestion (Figure 2). In the laboratory, supplementation of dairy cow diets with nu.biom BOS has also been shown to significantly increase crude protein digestibility and neutral fibre digestibility (Vicente et al., 2024). In lactating goats, nu.biom BOS supplementation resulted in significantly lower methane output per kg of milk produced (14.3 versus 11.3 g/kg, control and nu.biom BOS, respectively), coinciding with a 21% increase in ruminal propionate suggesting an effect of nu.biom BOS on the ruminal microbiota and improved efficiency (Fernández et al., 2023). Given methanogenic archaea use anywhere from 2-12% of gross dietary energy, modification of the ruminal microflora by nu.biom BOS helps to offset this potentially compromised feed efficiency. Improved nutrient digestion was also associated with increased milk production observed across all 9 farms compared to the historical average (Figure 3). Figure 2. Changes in faecal appearance before (left) and 2 weeks after (right) feeding nu.biom BOS +5.9% +12.8% +8.8% +14.8% +13.8% +10.0% +38.2% +13.5% +3.4% 20,0 25,0 30,0 35,0 40,0 1 2 3 4 5 Farm ø milk production (L/cow/day) 6 7 8 9 ø milk yield at starting day ø milk yield at evaluation day Figure 3. Average milk production at study start and end across 9 Italian dairy farms
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTUxNjkxNQ==