Susceptibility of dairy cows to subacute ruminal acidosis is reflected in both prepartum and postpartum bacteria as well as odd- and branched-chain fatty acids in feces

Table 1 Ingredients and chemical composition (g/kg of DM) of the diet offered from 3 weeks prior to calving (Close-up) up to the first 2 d of lactation, as well as the diets offered on d 3 and 20 in lactation (Lac3 and Lac20). A gradual linear shift from Lac3 to Lac20 took place through build-up of balanced compound feed A and B, Covasoy, and soybean meal (Table S1)

Item	Close-up	Lac3	Lac20
Maize silage	344	321	248
Grass silage	344	321	248
Beet pulp	84.2	78.4	60.7
Urea	1.40	1.30	1.01
Straw	9.57	8.92	6.90
Barley	11.0	10.2	7.89
Maize	41.6	38.8	30.0
Soybean meal	79.8	111	73.7
Balanced compound feed A¹	—	24.5	108
Covasoy²	—	24.5	54.0
Balanced compound feed B³	67.2	61.2	162
Prolacta⁴	16.8	—	—
Chemical composition, g/kg of DM (unless noted otherwise)
DM, g/kg	392	440	543
VEM⁵	998	1027	1053
CP	138	160	168
FOM⁶	592	591	587
Starch	168	164	180
NFC⁷	429	430	448
NDF⁸	347	334	294
ADF⁹	179	174	153
Structural value	1.82	1.71	1.37
NE_L, MJ/kg of DM¹⁰	6.89	7.09	7.27
DVE¹¹	73.8	103	121

¹Contains (g/kg product): maize (430), soybean meal (270), dry beet pulp (100), wheat (85), molasses (70), feed phosphate (10), micro minerals (10), lignin-sulfonate (10), salt (6), magnesium oxide (5), and chalk (4)
²Covasoy = formaldehyde-treated soybean meal to bypass rumen degradation
³Contains (g/kg product): beet pulp (370), soybean meal (210), wheat (185), maize (120), molasses (50), salt (12), soy oil (10), feed phosphate (10), micro minerals (10), lignin-sulfonate (10), chalk (8), and magnesium oxide (5)
⁴Prolacta = commercial mineral/vitamin premix. Contains: 81.6 g of Mg, 39.5 g of P, 30.1 g of Na, 2.2 g of Ca, 0 g of K, 2500 mg of zinc sulfate, 2000 mg of choline chloride, 1250 mg of manganese oxide, 1000 mg of copper sulphate, 40 mg of sodium selenite, 20 mg of calcium iodate, 15 mg of cobalt sulfate, 1,000,000 IU of vitamin A, 200,000 IU of vitamin D₃, and 4400 mg of vitamin E
⁵VEM = feed unit lactation [25]
⁶FOM = fermentable organic matter [24]
⁷NFC = non-fibre carbohydrates
⁸NDF = neutral detergent fibre
⁹ADF = acid detergent fibre
¹⁰Calculated based on the Belgian–Dutch net energy evaluation system (1000 VEM = 6.9 MJ NE_L) [25]
¹¹DVE = true protein digested in the small intestine [24]

ISSN: 2049-1891