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Magnesium butyrate is a readily available magnesium source in dairy cow nutrition
De Groot, B.; Edwards, J...
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Objectives: Magnesium (Mg) is an essential nutrient for cows. This means that dairy rations need to supply a sufficient amount of absorbable Mg in order to safeguard the cow’s health, for example decreasing the risk of milk fever and grass tetany. Currently, Mg-oxide is widely used to supplement dairy cows with Mg. In dry cow nutrition, however, Mg-butyrate can be considered of interest as an alternative source of supplemental Mg. This is because the use of Mg-butyrate, instead of Mg-oxide, is potentially advantageous. Butyrate, but not oxide, may stimulate the growth of rumen papillae which is instrumental to prevent rumen acidosis. However, the bioavailability of Mg from Mg-butyrate is not known. Therefore, an experiment was conducted with dairy cows to measure the apparent absorption of Mg from Mg-butyrate.
Materials & Methods: Six mid-lactation Holstein Friesian dairy cows were used in an experiment which had two dietary treatments arranged in a cross-over design. The experiment consisted of 2 experimental periods of 14 days each, preceded by a 14-day pre-experimental period to allow the cows to become adapted to the experimental rations. Two different diets were fed during the experiment, with the basal rations being identical and consisting of a low Mg diet without Mg-butyrate (L-Mg, 3.1g Mg/kg dry matter) and a high Mg diet with Mg-butyrate (H-Mg, 3.9 g Mg/kg dry matter). The magnesium content of the diets was modified via a pelleted experimental beet pulp. For the H-Mg group, the experimental beet pulp contained Mg-butyrate (Rumen-Ready®, Palital Feed Additives, Velddriel, The Netherlands) whereas the experimental beet pulp for the L-Mg diet did not. The Mg-butyrate from Ru- men-Ready® is completely released and solubilized within the rumen, i.e., it is 100% available for absorption. Both types of experimental beet pulp contained TiO2, which was used as an inert marker for determination of fecal output. Feed refusals and milk yield were recorded daily during each experimental period, and any feed refusals stored at -18 °C. During the last 4 days of each experimental period, all spontaneously voided feces and urine were collected between 9:00 and 17:00. At the end of each collection day, the individual feces collections were stored at -18 °C whereas the individual urine collections were stored at 5 °C. All individual feces, urine and feed refusal collections were pooled per cow and mixed thoroughly prior to chemical analysis. The Mg content of pooled samples of the feces, urine, feed and feed refusals was measured by means of inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, and the titanium concentration of the experimental beet pulp and feces was determined using a spectrophotometer.
Results: Cows offered the L-Mg diet ingested 54.7 g Mg/ day while the cows fed the H-Mg diets ingested 66.3 g Mg/day (P < 0.001). The fecal excretion of Mg, however, was similar between the two experimental diets (P = 0.174). Consequently, apparent Mg absorption was found to be 7.9 percentage units greater (P = 0.038) when the cows were fed the diet supplemented with Mg-butyrate. The greater Mg absorption after feeding the H-Mg diet was, however, not reflected by a greater urinary Mg concentration (P = 0.228). These results indicate that the availability of Mg from the Mg-butyrate supplemented diet was high (34.1% of intake). The absolute fractional Mg absorption from Mg butyrate (i.e. 8.3 g/d) was at least 1.5 times greater than that of similarly derived values for the fractional Mg absorption from a highly soluble MgO (using previously published data). Thus, it appears that Mg butyrate, relative to MgO, is superior in supplying Mg available for absorption. The fractional Mg absorption from Mg-butyrate was calculated to be 71.6%.
Conclusion: Mg-butyrate is an attractive alternative to supplement dairy rations with Mg.
Keywords: Rumen, ruminant, apparent absorption.
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Affiliation of the authors at the time of publication
Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands;
Palital Feed Additives, Velddriel, Netherlands.
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