What is choline?
Choline is a water-soluble nutrient that is vital for cell structure, fat transport, nerve function and metabolism.
It is also a precursor for other important compounds in the body. Choline is a B vitamin that has been known to be an important
key in poultry and swine nutrition for a long time. Until recently its role in dairy nutrition has been poorly understood.
Why do cows need it?
All animals need choline. Research has shown that the rumen micro-organisms do not supply enough choline for the
dairy cows needs and if unprotected choline is added to the diet, the rumen activity quickly destroys it.
What does it do?
Choline is involved in many key functions including fat transport and metabolism. Cows rely
on fat as an important source of energy and as a precursor for milk fat synthesis. This is particularly important when the
cow freshens and in early lactation. Dairy cows are in negative energy balance during these time periods, relying on their
body fat stores to make up the deficit. Fat metabolism revolves around the liver’s ability to take free fatty acids
from the blood and repackage them into Very Low Density Lipoproteins and then send them to other tissues. The liver has little
control over how much fat it takes up. When there are high blood fat levels, such as in fresh cows, the liver absorbs a great
deal of fat. Choline is very effective in improving the livers ability to handle the fat. This in turn helps prevent fatty
liver.
What value does choline give to the dairy producer?
Fatty liver is a serious metabolic disease, leading to losses in protein and possibly death.
It is also related to other transition dairy cow disorders, such as ketosis, retained placentas, displaced abomasums and milk
fever. These disorders can impact up to 10-20% of the cows on a dairy. Undetected losses may even be higher. Veterinary bills
can add up and lost milk production is a real factor if choline is not sufficient in the diet.
Choline: An essential nutrient for dairy cows
The
rapid method to increase milk production by using BPC combines a rumen by-pass
fat and choline, using our patented processes. One pound of BPC provides
60 grams of usable by-pass choline per pound. Herd studies in the United States and Canada have shown
increased milk production when using BPC. In some cases, depending on diet,
genetics, and overall condition, increased production has exceeded 6 to 10 pounds per head per day.
BPC is protected from the action of the rumen and are absorbed in the
further digestive processes, therefore allowing the choline, a vital nutrient, to be used by the animal, increasing production
and improving herd health.
Rumen by-pass choline makes it possible to aid
in prevention of diseases such as ketosis, fatty liver syndrome, and displaced abomasums. Choline and Choline Chloride are
preferentially metabolized in the rumen. This is accomplished with BPC.
BPC can also be used to replace
the milk gain using injections. By replacing injections with BPC, you save the
higher cost of injections, as well as the labor and management to administer. All this without any decrease in total milk
production.
BPC Test Results and Trial Information Supplementation of Diets with Limited Methionine Content with Rumen-protected
Forms of Methionine, Choline, and Betaine in Early Lactation Holstein Cows.
S. Davidson, B.A. Hopkins, J. Odle, C. Brownie, V. Fellner, and
L.W. Whitlow.
North Carolina State University, Raleigh.
Eighty lactating Holstein cows from 21 to 91
days in milk were fed a corn silage-based total mixed ration (TMR) formulated to meet National Research Council (2001) recommendations
except the Met content was limited (42 g/d) in order to investigate the impact of supplementing rumen-protected (RP) forms
of Met, betaine, and choline on performance and metabolism. One of four supplements was blended into the TMR to produce
four dietary treatments: 1.) control, 2.) 20 g/d RP-Met, 3.) 45 g/d RP-betaine, and 4.) 40 g/d RP-choline. Calcium salts
of fatty acids were used to protect both RP-betaine and RP-choline supplements and were added to both control and RP-met supplements
so that equal amounts of fat were supplied to all treatments. Intake of DM was not different among treatments (P >
0.2). The treatment by parity interaction tended to be different (P = 0.06) for milk yield with 44.3 kg/d produced
in MP cows fed RP-choline compared to MP cows fed all other treatments (37.8, 40.0, and 38.7, respectively) while there were
no differences among treatments in PP cows. Cows fed RP-met or RP-choline had higher milk CP yield than cows fed control
or RP-betaine (P = 0.02). There were no differences in milk fat yield or milk urea nitrogen (MUN) (P
> 0.2). Body weight and body condition score (BCS) were not different among treatments (P > 0.2).
BPC outperformed control by 6.5 Kg, Methionine by 4.3 Kg
A
dairy approached Robt Morgan, Inc. with the desire to replace growth hormone injections with BPC.
The hope was that there would be a niminal difference in milk production, and the dairy owner could market the milk
in the future as having no growth hormone injections. The dairy replaced injections for a period of thirty days
and changed nothing in the ration with the exception of adding 1/2 pound of BPC.
The thirty days prior were retained as milk numbers to test against. The thirty days after starting
BPC were the target numbers for production. At the conclusion of the test,
the control group (having injections the prior thirty days) had a herd average of 59.41 pounds, while the BPC group
(without injections) had an average of 58.79 pounds.
THE
DAIRY HAS CONTINUED USING BPC IN THE RATION!
This dairy had four corrals for the test (a fifth was added later using BPC). The control group was fed the standard ration, including Megalac-R. The
test group was fed the same ration with 100g of Megalac-R replaced by 100g of BPC.
Conditions remained constant for all groups.
Corrals 6 and 9 were on BPC,
while corrals 35 and 36 were the control groups. Findings were that both groups on BPC
increased milk production during the test period, while both control groups lost production. See the following chart
for more test details.
|
