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Effects of level and form of dietary zinc on dairy cattle performance and keratin production in the teat canal

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 November 2017

C Cope ,
A M Mackenzie ,
D Wilde  and
L A Sinclair
C Cope*
Affiliation:
Harper Adams University College, Shropshire, United Kingdom
A M Mackenzie
Affiliation:
Harper Adams University College, Shropshire, United Kingdom
D Wilde
Affiliation:
Alltech (UK) Limited, Stamford, United Kingdom
L A Sinclair
Affiliation:
Harper Adams University College, Shropshire, United Kingdom
*
Email: [email protected]
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Extract

The teat canal in dairy cows is lined with keratin, which is considered to be a natural physical and chemical barrier involved in providing resistance to bacteria gaining entry into the mammary gland. Keratin is partially removed during milking therefore requiring regeneration. It has been estimated that a cow needs to regenerate 1.3 mg per teat between each milking to replace the amount lost (Capuco et al., 1992). Zinc is important in the process of keratinisation and previous studies have reported an 2.4 kg/d increase in milk yield when supplemented with Zn in an organic form at the recommended level and an increase in somatic cell counts (SCC) in cattle receiving 0.66 of the recommended level of dietary Zn (Atkin et al., 2007), although mechanisms for this observation are unclear. The objective of this study was to establish the effect of level and form of Zn (organically chelated (Bioplex ZnTM; Alltech Inc., Nicholasville, USA) vs. inorganic (ZnO)) and no supplemental Zn on dairy cow performance and keratin production in the teat canal.

Type
Theatre Presentations
Information
Proceedings of the British Society of Animal Science , Volume 2009 , April 2009 , pp. 85
Copyright
Copyright © The British Society of Animal Science 2009

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References

Atkin, C. M., Mackenzie, A. M., Wilde, D and Sinclair, L. A. (2007). Effects of level and form of dietary zinc on dairy cow performance and health. Proceedings of the British Society of Animal Science, 104.Google Scholar
Capuco, A. V., Wood, D. L., Bright, S. A., Miller, R. H. and Bitman, J. (1990) Regeneration of teat canal keratin in lactating dairy cows. Journal of Dairy Science. 73, 1745–1750 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Capuco, A. V., Bright, S. A., Pankey, J. W., Wood, D. L., Miller, R. H. and Bitman, J. (1992) Increased susceptibility to intramammary infection following removal of teat canal keratin. Journal of Dairy Science. 75, 2126–2130 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
National Research Council (NRC). 2001. Nutrient Requirements of Dairy Cattle, Seventh Revised Edition, National Academy Press.Google Scholar