Feed additives are defined as products used in animal nutrition for improving the quality of feed or the animals’ performance and health. They may be classified as technological, sensory, nutritional or zoo-technical additives.
The objective of this article is to summarize six recent research studies focused on feed additives used in dairy cow diets.
Encapsulating potassium carbonate to reduce its chemical reactivity
Potassium carbonate is a feed additive used as a source of potassium in dairy diets; however, in the presence of moisture, this reacts to cause the heating of the total mixed ration and palatability issues.
Researchers from South Dakota State University evaluated whether feeding a free fatty acid (FFA)- encapsulated potassium carbonate would create palatability issues in lactating dairy cows when compared with feeding potassium carbonate sesquihydrate, a less reactive source of potassium carbonate.
Cows were fed either 68 g/day of potassium carbonate sesquihydrate plus 204 g/day of bypass fat as individual ingredients or 272 g/d of FFA-encapsulated potassium carbonate. The findings, published in The Professional Animal Scientist, showed no differences in dry matter intake between diets for either consumption within the first 10 minutes after feeding or the daily ad libitum intake.
In conclusion, the authors suggested there was no palatability issue with the FFA-encapsulated potassium when fed to lactating dairy cows.
Continue reading this article published in Feed Strategy.
