Efficacy of Propylene Glycol 65 on peripartum dairy cows

Propylene glycol is a well-known substance which acts as an energy supply in ruminants and has proven to be effective against ketosis. Unfortunately, it is provided in a liquid form, thus, its application is difficult and it has a bad taste, therefore feeding is neither comfortable for the animals nor the people. This background led Norel to develop propylene glycol in a solid form, called PG65. Solid propylene glycol can be mixed properly into the total mixed ration (TMR) of the cows.

The product was tested in a 1,200  dairy farm cows in the Chinese province of Fujian. They tested PG65 for 3 months on groups of cows to determine the influence of the product on ketosis before and after calf delivery.

The application of 200 g PG65 per cow a day in a pre-calving group (N=72) reduced beta-hydroxy-butyrate (BHB) concentration from 0.80 to 0.57 mmol/L, resulting in a decrease of ketosis incidence from 39% to 7% compared to a control group (N=61). Only one case of acute ketosis appeared on the control group and the rest of the cases were subacute ketosis.

The application of 100 g PG65 per cow a day in a post-calving group (N=18) resulted in no incidences of ketosis and decreased BHB values from 1.05 to 0.56. Ketosis incidence on the control group (N=101) increased to 25.7%.

PG65 has proven to be an effective energy supply against ketosis in an easy physical form for feed application.