Marijke Boerefyn's MSc Defence

The effect of Saccharomyces cerevisiae var. boulardii CNCMI-1079 supplementation during late gestation on colostrum and transition milk quality and offsprings health and immune function in Holstein dairy cattle

The objectives of this thesis were to evaluate the effect of Saccharomyces cerevisiae var. bouldarii CNCM I-1079 maternal supplementation during late gestation (SCB; 1.0 × 1010 cfu/d; top dressed on TMR daily starting d −28 relative to calving) on offspring’s immune function, and on colostrum quality and composition in both primiparous (PP) and multiparous (MP) Holstein dairy cows. In the first study, a total of 87 cows were enrolled (SCB n = 43; CON n = 44) and subsequent offsprings’ immune status and health were evaluated. Overall, the results indicated that supplementing dams with SCB decreased γδ T cell functional receptors WC1.1 and WC1.2 at day seven of life but did not impact other immune and health parameters preweaning. The second study evaluated the colostrum and transition milk quality and composition from the cows in the same study (SCB n = 41; CON n = 44). Results from the study found that supplementation of SCB during late gestation increased co-lostral fat concentration and composition. In summary, supplementing SCB during late gestation is a promising nutritional strategy to increase colostral fat concentrations and modulate γδ T cell function in calves.