Abstract
Sources of energy and rumen undegradable protein (RUP) have been used to meet nutrient requirements for high producing dairy cows. However studies for manipulation the levels of energy and RUP in diets have been mainly achieved using dairy cows at early-lactation period. The objective of this study thus, was to investigate the effects of different energy and rumen undegradable protein (RUP) levels on dry matter intake and milk yield in Holstein cows at mid-lactation period. Basal diet was prepared as TMR to meet nutrient requirements for dairy cows at mid-lactation according to NRC recommendation. Cows of control group (Con) were fed only basal diets while ground corn (0.5 kg/d), heat-treated soybean meal (0.5 kg/d), and their mixture (0.25 kg of each supplements/d) were added to diets for cows of treatment groups (T1, T2, and T3 respectively) to modulate the level of energy and RUP contents in diets. Addition of energy or RUP source in basal TMR did not affect in total DMI while TMR intake tended to be higher in Con compared to T3. Cows fed T3 diets tended to show increased milk yield and MUN content than those of Con. Cows for T2 as well as T3 had lower ADG (P<0.05) compared with those of Con. We concluded that the addition of RUP source in diets for dairy cows on mid-lactation period might cause the decrement of DMI and ADG.
