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Influence of nutritional restriction during late gestation on production measures and passive immunity in beef cattle.

1990; Oxford University Press; Volume: 68; Issue: 9 Linguagem: Inglês

10.2527/1990.6892622x

1544-7847

R L Hough, F. D. McCarthy, H D Kent, Dan Edward Eversole, Mark L. Wahlberg,

Reproductive Physiology in Livestock

A 2-yr study was conducted to examine the effects of nutritional restriction of beef cows during the last 90 d of gestation on neonatal immunity and production. Cows were fed com silage, soybean meal diets; dietary treatments consisted of 1) control (CO), 100% of the NRC (1984) requirements for protein and energy, or 2) restricted (RS), 57% of the NRC requirements for energy and protein. All cows received adequate amounts of this diet postpartum. Each year, 26 Angus cows were grouped by age and weight:height ratio (WT: HT) and allotted randomly to treatments. Calves born to dams within each nutritional treatment group were allotted to one of two colostral treatments: 1) colostrum from their dam, or 2) colostrum from a cow from the other nutritional treatment group. Calves from restricted dams had higher Cortisol (33.8 vs 26.1 ng/ml) and lower triiodothyronine (T3) (3.82 vs 4.01 ng/ml) concentrations (P < .05). Maternal nutrition did not affect either colostrum immunoglobulin G (IgG) concentration (43.0 vs 39.5 mg/ml for RS and CO, respectively) or the calves' serum IgG concentration (19.06 vs 20.17 mg/ml IgG at 24 h for RS and CO, respectively). Yet, calves fed colostrum from restricted cows tended to have lower serum IgG concentration (17.2 vs 22.0 mg/ml IgG at 24 h).