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ARS Home » Plains Area » Clay Center, Nebraska » U.S. Meat Animal Research Center » Nutrition, Growth and Physiology » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #394525
Research Project: Improve Nutrient Management and Efficiency of Beef Cattle and Swine

Location: Nutrition, Growth and Physiology

Title: Influence of cow’s perinatal diet on calf microbiota

Author
item Freetly, Harvey
item Wells, James - Jim
item Lindholm-Perry, Amanda

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/22/2022
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: We hypothesized that diet at parturition would influence calf rumen microbiome. Spring calving cows were assigned to either alfalfa hay (n = 133) or silage (n = 171) rations from 66-68 d prior to parturition until 9-11 d after parturition. The silage ration consisted of 45% corn silage, 40% earlage, and 15% wet distillers grains on a dry matter basis. Cows had access to dormant forage during pregnancy and continued to graze through the pasture becoming vegetative. The rations were provided to meet at least 100% of their metabolizable energy requirement. Fifteen cow-calf pairs were selected from each herd for subsequent sampling. Herds were maintained in separate pastures that contained a common forage. Rumen fluid was sampled from the cows and calves when calves were 100.9 ± 0.1 d. Total DNA was isolated and the V1 to V3 region of the 16S rRNA gene was sequenced. Operational taxonomic units were classified using 0.03 dissimilarity and identified using the Greengenes 16S rRNA gene database. Chao1 diversity differed (P < 0.001) between calves whose dams received hay (3518 ± 90) and silage (2763 ± 83); likewise, the Shannon diversity differed (P < 0.001) between calves whose dams received hay (7.05 ± 0.07) and silage (6.50 ± 0.06). Beta diversity differed between treatments (Permanova; P < 0.001). For cows fed hay, the Chao1 diversity differed (P < 0.001) between calves (3757 ± 121) and their dams (4633 ± 108) and Shannon diversity differed (P < 0.001) between calves (7.10 ± 0.04) dams (7.37 ± 0.04). Beta diversity also differed (Permanova; P < 0.001). For cows fed silage, the Chao1 diversity differed (P < 0.001) between calves (2786 ± 80) and their dams (3271 ± 80) and Shannon diversity differed (P = 0.01) between calves (6.51 ± 0.07) dams (6.77 ± 0.07). Beta diversity also differed (Permanova; P < 0.001).