The effect of prebiotics and plant essential oils on the performance and safety parameters of Holstein dairy cows during the transition period

Abstract

Introduction: The present experiment was designed to investigate the effect of prebiotics and plant essential oils (thymol, carvacrol, and eucalyptol) on milk production performance and safety parameters of Holstein dairy cows during the transition period. Materials & Metods: This design was carried out in the form of completely random statistical designs with 3 treatments and 6 repetitions each. The treatments included zero levels, 10 grams and 20 grams of prebiotics and plant essences, which were forcefully fed to the cows during the evening meal. Results: The results showed that there was no significant difference in the immunoglobulins of goats in the first milking. Average milk production and percentage of milk protein increased significantly in the treatments of 10 and 20 grams of prebiotics and plant essential oils. But other milk compositions did not show any change. The factors related to red blood cells and white blood cells did not have significant differences in the whole period. The presence of ziralenone in the urine of cows in the treatment of 20 grams of prebiotics and plant essences had a significant difference in both sampling periods and was less than other treatments. In terms of the amount of acetic, caproic, isobutyric and isovaleric fatty acids, the group receiving prebiotics and plant essential oils had a significant increase compared to the control group. Examining the expression of interferon gamma gene showed that the treatments had no effect on this gene. Conclusion: It can be concluded that the use of plant prebiotics along with plant essential oil has a positive effect on livestock production in the postpartum period, but it has no effect on the immune system of cows in this particular period.