Effects of dietary seaweed supplementation on milk productivity, milk quality and health of dairy cows

The objective of this study was to evaluate effects of dietary supplementation of a seaweed-originated product (SOP) on milk productivity, milk quality and health of milking cows under Vietnam weather conditions at the dairy farm of One Member Dairy and Beef Joint Stock Company HCMC, Vietnam from October 2019 to February 2020. A total of 40 Holstein Friesian crossbred cows were randomly allotted into 2 treatments in a randomized complete block design. The 2 dietary treatments included (1) cows fed a basal ration without SOP supplementation (control) and (2) control plus 70 g SOP/cow per day (about 0.35% dry matter intake/day). Parity, days in milk, body weight, and milk yield of cows in both treatments were almost equal (P > 0.05). The results showed that the average milk yield of cows over the experimental period was not different between the two treatments (P > 0.05), but the lactation stability curve was better in SOP group. The SOP supplementation also did not improve milk quality indicators (fat, protein, solids not fat, lactose, somatic cell count) as compared with the control (P > 0.05). The blood ketone level of cows in the control group was higher than that of cows in the SOP group (P < 0.05), although there were no differences in the blood levels of AST, ALT, protein, glucose, cholesterol, cortisol (P > 0.05). The SOP supplementation did not affect BW, body condition score, and locomotion score as well as the prevalences of lameness and digestive diseases (P > 0.05). Briefly, these results suggest that the dietary SOP addition of 70 g/cow per day appears not to improve milk productivity, milk quality and health of milking cows.