Supplementing Ca salts of soybean oil to late-gestating beef cows: impacts on performance and physiological responses of the offspring

摘要

Nutritional management of beef cows during late gestation has direct implications on postnatal performance of the in utero offspring (Cooke, 2019). The majority of the research conducted within this subject focused on energy and protein nutrition, and limited information exists about essential fatty acids (FA). Our group recently reported that supplementing Ca salts of ɷ-3 and ɷ-6 FA to beef cows during late gestation improved offspring performance (Marques et al., 2017). More specifically, feedlot growth rate and carcass marbling were greater in calves born from cows supplemented with ɷ-3 + ɷ-6 FA. These results were indicative of programming effects from essential FA supplementation, by improving hyperplastic muscle development and intramuscular adipose cells of calves during gestation.