Milk conjugated linoleic acid response to fish oil and linseed oil supplementation of grazing dairy cows

The effect of supplementing the diet of grazing dairy cows with fish oil (FO) and linseed oil (LSO) on milk conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) was investigated. Sixteen Holstein cows (170±19 DIM) were assigned into two groups and fed a grain supplement (8.0 kg/d; DM basis) containing 800 g of saturated animal fat (CONT) or 200 g FO and 600 g LSO (FOLSO). All cows grazed together on Sudan grass pasture ad libitum and were fed the treatment diets for 3 wks. Cows were milked twice a day and milk samples were collected during the last three days of the trial. Milk production (24.89 and 22.45 kg/d), milk protein percentage (2.76 and 2.82) and milk protein yield (0.68 and 0.64 kg/d) for the CONT and FOLSO diets, respectively, were not affected (p>0.05) by treatment diets. Milk fat percentage (3.90 and 2.86) and milk fat yield (0.97 and 0.64 kg/d) were lower (p<0.05) with the FOLSO diet compared with the CONT diet. The concentration and yield of milk cis-9 trans-11 CLA were higher (p<0.05) with the FOLSO diet (2.56% of total FA and 16.44 g/d, respectively) than the CONT diet (0.66% of total FA and 6.44 g/d, respectively). The concentrations of milk trans C18:1 and vaccenic acid (VA) were higher (p<0.05) with the FOLSO diet (13.53 and 7.48% of total FA, respectively) than the CONT diet (3.69 and 2.27% of total FA, respectively). In conclusion, supplementing the diet of grazing cows with FO and LSO increased milk cis-9 trans-11 CLA content but reduced milk fat content and yield.