Accredited Research Bovine BlueLite® Pellets & Heat Stress University of Puerto Rico - 2012
Summary: Bovine BlueLite®Pellets are an electrolyte with multiple energy sources, fluid balancing osmolytes, and essential vitamins and nutrients. It is used for dairy cattle in heat stress and post-calving. A trial was conducted on a commercial dairy in Puerto Rico to study the effects of feeding Bovine BlueLite® Pellets on the performance of lactating dairy cows during heat stress. Cows receiving approximately 4-6 oz. of Bovine BlueLite® Pellets experienced a lower core body temperature when the Temperature-Humidity Index (THI) was high (>80) , during this trial. Study Design: Thirty-eight cows were assigned to either of two experimental treatments, control and BlueLite®. Cows were paired according to milk production, days in milk and parity. The 19 pairs of cows consisted of 7 multiparous and 12 primiparous cows; within each pair were randomly assigned to one of the two experimental treatments. Treatments were fed during 10 days of adjustment and 50 days of data collection, during the months of October and November of 2012. Experimental cows were fed forage separately from concentrate which was fed twice daily, prior to each milking. The BlueLite treatment was mixed in the pelleted concentrate portion and fed individually to each cow, prior to the afternoon milking. Vaginal temperature is a good indicator of internal cow temperature that allows for continuous temperature measurements for extended periods of time. A subsample of the experimental cow population (n=10) was utilized to measure continuous internal temperature using HOBO thermometers (Onset® Corp.) inserted deep in the vagina of the cow with latex “octopus devices developed by Hillman et. al (2009) (Figure1). The thermometers were inserted 9 days before the Bluelite supplementation pre-trial period and remained inside the cows until 22 days after the experimental phase. Thermometers were programmed to record at 5-minute intervals and the data was pooled to measure hourly intervals. Before the thermometer insertion, these were cleaned and disinfected with a Norvasan® solution at ambient temperature. After removal, they were cleaned with clean water to remove excess mucus, and data was collected using an interphase module (HOBO waterproof shuttle, Onset Corp.) connected to each thermometer. The data for internal temperature was analyzed with the PROC mixed procedure of SAS. Figure 1. HOBO thermometer and octopus insertion device
Results: Figures 2 to 5 compare vaginal temperature differences between control and BlueLitesupplemented cows in the pre-trial, adjustment and data collection periods, with ambient temperature variation within days of the experiment. As expected, control cows and BlueLite supplemented cows did not differ during the pre-trial, when no supplementation was offered. Cows supplemented with BlueLite averaged 39.2oC (range 38.7 to 39.5) while control cows averaged 39.3oC (range 38.8 to 39.6) (Table 1). However, a significant difference (P<.001) was observed in vaginal temperature of BlueLite supplemented cows when the TemperatureHumidity Index (THI) was high (>80o). These differences were reduced or not observed when the THI was low (<75o) as the day progressed to evening and night, or when the experimental period turned to the month of November, when THI’s were significantly reduced.
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0501002016
Accredited Research Bovine BlueLite® Pellets & Heat Stress University of Puerto Rico - 2012
Figure 2. Vaginal Temperature during the pre-trial period with no BlueLite supplementation.
Figure 4. Vaginal temperatures during Week 1 of data collection as related to ambient temperature (oC).
Figure 3. Vaginal temperatures in the 10-day adjustment period (with BlueLite supplementation) and its relation to ambient temperature.
Figure 5. Vaginal temperatures during Week 2 of data collection as related to ambient temperature (oC).
Conclusion: Results from this trial determine the efficacy of electrolyte supplementation in the feed of heat stressed dairy cows. Producers can utilize these results to build nutritional programs for managing heat stress, improve heat stress tolerance, reduce subsequent health disorders, and improve overall profitability of their operation, which provide some economic and environmental relief to traditional management strategies such as fans (decreased energy costs) and sprinkler systems (decrease water usage). Dr. Rodrigo Garcia-Lastra, Dr. Antonio Ferro of TechMix Europe, and Ruiz, T., Fernandez, J. of the University of Puerto Rico contributed to this article
TechMix, LLC 740 Bowman St • PO Box 221 • Stewart, MN 55385 877.466.6455 • TechMixGlobal.com
0501002016