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Relationships Between Urea Dilution Measurements and Body Weight and Composition of Lactating Dairy Cows

¹ The Agricultural Research Institute of Northern Ireland, Hillsborough, BT26 6DR, UK
² Veterinary Sciences Division, Stoney Road, Stormont, Belfast, BT4 3SB, UK

Corresponding author: T. Yan; e-mail: tianhai.yan{at}dardni.gov.uk.

The objective of the present study was to investigate the potential of the urea dilution technique, coupled with live animal measures to predict the body components of dairy cattle. The study involved 104 lactating Holstein-Friesian cows offered grass silage-based diets. Urea space volume (USV) was calculated from 2 collection periods of blood samples following infusion of urea at 12 (USV₁₂, kg) and 30 (USV₃₀, kg) min after infusion, and then as a proportion of live weight (LW) or empty body weight (EBW). All cows were slaughtered within 2 d of the USV trials. Large ranges existed in EBW and empty body concentrations of water, crude protein (CP), lipid, ash, and gross energy (GE). The USV₁₂ and USV₃₀ were both positively related to LW, EBW, and empty body component weights. The r² values for USV₁₂ were greater than USV₃₀. The r² values in the relationships of EBW and empty body composition with USV, however, were smaller than those with LW. Nevertheless, the relationships were improved when both USV and LW were used as predictors, rather than using either alone. Adding milk yield and body condition score as supporting predictors to prediction equations using USV and LW data for EBW, lipid, and GE contents further improved the relationships (r² = 0.93, 0.66, and 0.77, respectively). Internal evaluation of one-third of the present data using equations developed from two-thirds of the present data indicated that using USV, live weight, and other live animal variables as predictors, rather than using USV alone, considerably improved the prediction accuracy. It was concluded that USV can be used to predict body composition, but the relationships with USV were poorer than those with LW. The USV can only be used as a supporting variable to live weight for prediction of body components in lactating dairy cows.

Key Words: body composition • lactating dairy cow • prediction • urea space

Abbreviation key: EB = empty body, EBW = empty body weight, GE = gross energy, LW = live weight, USV = urea space volume, USV₁₂ = USV at 12 min (kg), USV_12/LW or USV_12/EBW = USV at 12 min as a proportion of live weight or empty body weight (kg/kg), USV₃₀ = USV at 30 min (kg), USV_30/LW or USV_30/EBW = USV at 30 min as a proportion of live weight or empty body weight (kg/kg).

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