Effect of Different Levels of Whole Cottonseed on Production, Milk Composition, Digestibility and Blood Parameters of Montebeliard Breed Lactating Cows

Introduction This experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of different level of whole cotton seed on performance, milk composition, dry matter digestibility and blood parameters of Montebeliard cows at first milking period. Whole cottonseed (WCS) is an unusual feedstuff for ruminants. Due to its high content of fat and protein, it may be defined as a concentrate. On the other hand, its fiber is similar to that of forages in terms of effectiveness in the rumen. The response of dairy cattle milk production to WCS feeding is variable. A large part of the effect of WCS on milk production is related to ruminal effects, which depend upon the basal diet fermentation balance. Montbéliarde cattle are a red and white pied cattle breed from the Montbéliard region of France, used mainly for dairying and particularly for cheese making.Materials and Methods This research project was conducted at Behkadeh Razavi Corporation, Bojnourd, North province and department Animal Science Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Iran. In this experiment 16 Montebeliard dairy cows were used in a completely random design with 4 treatments and 4 cows per each treatment during 30 days (14 day adaptation and 16 day sampling). Each treatment received whole cottonseed according their group (0 % (control), 7, 14 and 21% respectively). Cows were milking 2 times in each day and sampling of milk was done weekly. The average milk production and body weight cows before experiment were 24.8±3kg day-1 and 840±30kg. Samples were collected from tail vein for blood parameters (glucose, cholesterol, TG and BUN) in last day. Milk production corrected with 4% fat coefficient. The 3 days end experiment collection of samples of feces used for apparent digestibility of dry matter. The AIA content of the feed and the excreta were determined Results and Discussion Over the experimental periods, production of raw milk in the diets with whole cotton seed were greater significantly than control group (P