Manipulating the Fatty Acid Composition of Lipids in the Digital Cushion of the Bovine Claw

Raber et al. (2006) reported differences between heifers and mature cows in the fatty acid composition of digital cushions. Many other factors including the dietary forage to concentrate ratio (Aurousseau et al., 2004, French et al., 2000, Kelly et al., 1998, Realini et al., 2004, Steen and Porter, 2003), breed (Wachira et al., 2002), and energy status (Fearon et al., 2004) can influence the fatty acid composition of animal tissues. Despite a certain amount of bio-hydrogenation of unsaturated fatty acids in the rumen, another crucial influence on tissue fatty acid composition is the fatty acid composition of the diet (Glaser et al., 2004, Noci et al., 2007).
This study aimed to test the hypothesis that cattle ...