Comparison of milk and blood lipids in jersey and Holstein cows fed total mixed rations with or without whole cottonseed

Lipids in milk and blood were examined in Holstein and Jersey cows (8 lactating and 4 dry) fed two TMR containing either 10% whole cottonseed or a control concentrate mixture of corn, cottonseed hulls, and cottonseed meal in a switchback experiment. Milk from Jersey cows contained more total lipid than did milk from Holstein cows (4.4 vs. 3.5 g/dl), had a higher proportion of lipid as triglyceride (97.3% vs. 96.7%), and had a lower proportion of lipid as phospholipid (0.8% vs. 1.0%). Milk from the group fed cottonseed contained fewer medium-chain fatty acids (24.4% vs. 29.4%) and more C-18 fatty acids (35.9% vs. 25.8%) than did milk from the control group. Total blood lipids were 234 mg/dl for Holsteins and 168 mg/dl for jerseys. Total blood lipids were higher for dry cows fed cottonseed (100 vs. 72 mg/dl), particularly Jersey cows. As determined by gravimetric or TLC analysis, milk fat percentages of cows fed cottonseed were not different from those of cows fed control rations. However, as determined by infrared instrumentation, milk fat appeared to be lower (4.3%) for cows fed cottonseed than that (4.6%) for control cows. Changes in milk fatty acids that were related to diets might explain the difference between infrared and gravimetric determinations of milk fat.