Abstract #W117

# W117
Effects of increasing levels of calcium soap of fatty acid supplementation on lactation performance in dairy buffaloes.
Hifzulrahman*1, M. Abdullah1, J. Bhatti1, T. Pasha2, M. Akhtar2, Z. Ali3, M. Saadullah1, M. Haque2, 1Department of Livestock Production, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, 2Department of Animal Nutrition, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, 3Applied Chemistry Research Center, Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research Laboratories Complex, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan.

The effects of feeding varying levels of Ca salts of fatty acids on production responses were less thoroughly reported in lactating dairy buffalo compared with the dairy cow. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of increasing level of Ca salts of palm fatty acid (Ca-FA) on dry matter intake, milk yield, milk fat, and milk fatty acid (FA) profile in lactating Nili Ravi buffalo. Twelve multiparous early-lactating Nili Ravi buffaloes received 4 treatments in a 4 × 4 Latin square design with a period length of 21-d. The 4 diets were designed to provide 0, 200, 400, and 600 g of Ca-FA per day/buffalo. Milk yield and 3.5% fat-corrected milk yield were increased by 2.00 (quadratically, P = 0.04) and 6.20% (quadratically, P < 0.01), respectively, with the increasing Ca-FA intake. However, the response was maximized with the 400 g/d of Ca-FA intake by 16.1% on 3.5% fat-corrected milk yield. Milk fat content and yield were increased by 3.20 (quadratically, P = 0.04) and 8.20% (quadratically, P = 0.01), respectively, with the Ca-FA addition. Similarly, the increase in milk fat content and yield were maximum by 7.90 and 18.9%, respectively, with the 400 g/d of Ca-FA intake. The Ca-FA supplemental levels decreased the content and yield of de novo milk FA by 21.7% (linearly, P < 0.01) and increased the content and yield of preformed milk FA by 10.0% (linearly, P < 0.05) and the increase in milk C16:0 content was 9.32% (linearly, P < 0.01). Milk-feed-ratio were decreased for de novo milk FA (C12:0 and C14:0), C16:0, and preformed milk FA (C18:0 and C18:1) (linearly, P < 0.01) with increasing Ca-FA intake. In conclusion, increasing Ca-FA intake increased milk and milk fat yield and responses were maximized with the 400 g/d of Ca-FA supplemental level. Data were analyzed using the GLIMMIX procedure of SAS University Edition (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC), with main effects of period and treatments, whereas buffaloes were designated as random effect in the model. Treatments were compared with linear and quadratic polynomial contrasts to examine the response surface for the level of Ca-FA. When a significant effect (P ≤ 0.05) of dietary treatment was observed, means were compared using the Tukey’s test.

Key Words: calcium soap, milk yield, buffalo