Department: University of Delaware, Department of Animal and Food Sciences
Publisher: University of Delaware
Date Issued: 2009
Abstract: Recent studies have shown that feeding live yeasts to dairy cows has the ability
to moderate ruminal pH. The objective of this study was to compare the effects of
feeding live yeasts or sodium bicarbonate, a traditional buffer, on metabolic indices,
digestibility of the total mixed ration (TMR) and milk production and composition in
lactating dairy cows. Twenty-eight lactating Holstein cows (77 ± 31 days in milk,
39.4 ± 7.2 kg milk/d) were assigned to blocks by milk production, lactation number,
and days in milk and randomly allocated to one of three treatments in a replicated 3 ×
3 Latin square design.
