1998 Volume 2 Issue 1 Pages 23-28
We studied relationships between milk production and levels of sugars, water-soluble proteins, and ammonia in their feces of 92 Holstein cows from four farms. Fecal levels did not significantly differ among present four farms, but there were large differences among animals. For cows with same latent performance of milk production, lower daily milk productions were correlated with higher fecal levels of sugars and ammonia and with higher serum insulin levels. Groups with lower daily rate of milk productions might have been performing suboptimally. Levels of water-soluble proteins in feces were not related to daily milk productions. These results suggest that fecal constituents may be related to actual performance of milk productions. Examination of fecal constituents may be possible for estimations of conditions in individual cows, and also for controls of productions of milk in each animal.
