The effects of intravenous supplements of amino acids on the milk production of dairy cows consuming grass silage and a supplement containing feather meal

Two experiments were carried out to identify the limiting amino acids for milk production in dairy cows consuming diets based on grass silage and a cereal-based supplement containing feather meal as the only high-protein ingredient. In the first experiment, the yield of protein in milk was increased by 26% in response to intravenous infusion of a mixture of histidine, lysine, methionine and tryptophan. In the second experiment, omission of methionine from the infused mixture led to no reduction in the milk response compared with that seen with the mixture of four amino acids, confirming that methionine was not limiting milk production from the basal diet. The results have important implications for the choice of complementary proteins to blend with feather meal in diets for ruminants.