Effects Of Compound Plant Extracts On Milk Production,Immunity And Antioxidant Activity In Dairy Cows

The purpose of this experiment was to study the effects of compound plant extracts of honeysuckle,dandelion,Leonurus and Forsythia suspensa on milk yield,dry matter intake(DMI),apparent digestibility,milk composition,immune and antioxidant indexes in Holstein dairy cows.Twenty-four Holstein dairy cows with similar parity,lactation period,daily milk yield,and body condition were randomly divided into control group and experimental group,12 cows in each group.The control group was fed with TMR,and the treatment group was fed with TMR+compound plant extract(54 g/head/day).The experiment lasted for 75 days,the pre-feeding period was lasted for15 days,and the normal feeding period was lasted for 60 days.Milk yield was recorded every day.Feed intake was recorded every 15 days for 3 days,meanwhile blood sampled,and dry matter intake,milk composition,apparent digestibility,milk yield,serum immunity and antioxidant indexes were measured.The results showed that:(1)The dietary supplementation with compound plant extracts had no significant effect on dry matter intake,apparent digestibility,milk yield,and milk components in Holstein dairy cows(P>0.05).The somatic cell count of milk was significantly decreased after 30 days of feeding trial.(2)Dietary supplementation of compound plant extracts could significantly increase the total protein content in the serum of Holstein dairy cows(P<0.05),and significantly reduce the contents of IgA(P<0.05)and IL-2 in the serum of Holstein cows(P<0.01).(3)Compared with the control group,the total antioxidant capacity(T-AOC)of dairy cows in the experimental group increased significantly(P<0.05)on the d 15 and d 60 in the experimental period,and the levels of NO and NO synthase in the serum of dairy cows in the experimental group were significantly higher than those in the control group on the d 30 and d 60 in the experimental period(P<0.01).In conclusion,dietary supplementation with compound plant extracts can significantly reduce the somatic cells number in milk of dairy cows after 30 days of feeding,and significantly improve the immunity and antioxidant capacity in dairy cows,but have no significant effect on other production performance indicators.