Lactational Response to Dried Whey in Concentrate Mixture Fed to Dairy Cows

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Abstract
Previous short (6-13 wk) experiments indicated that including small amounts (5% or less) of dried whey in the concentrate mixture fed to lactating cows increased milk fat percentage but decreased milk production slightly. A 5% dried whey product was included in the concentrate mixture fed to 10 Holstein cows from 3 wk postpartum to the end of lactation to determine if previous responses were positive increases in milk fat percentages caused by feeding dried whey or a normal response to drying cows off prematurely. The dried whey product replaced a portion of the corn, soybean meal and dicalcium phosphate in the 10 controls'' concentrate mixture. Cows were fed concentrate at 1 kg/3 kg milk produced, 7 kg alfalfa hay daily and corn silage ad lib. Actual milk production was similar from cows fed the control and dried whey product diets (22.4 and 22.3 kg/day) while fat percent was higher from cows fed dried whey product (3.49 and 3.62%). Persistency with which production was maintained throughout lactation was similar with both diets, but persistency of 4% fat-corrected milk was greater for cows fed dried whey product. Percentages of protein and solids-not-fat in milk were not affected by treatment. Feeding small amounts of dried whey to lactating cows will not affect milk production adversely.