During the early postpartum period dairy cows experience suppressed appetite, negative energy balance and hypoglycemia; increasing the amount of starch in the diet can help to minimize these deficits. However, feeding diets with high starch concentration or highly fermentable starch can increase the production of propionic acid which can have hypophagic effects by stimulating the oxidation of fuels in the liver. We hypothesize that energy intake, energy balance and metabolic stress of cows in the early postpartum period can be improved by altering dietary starch concentration and starch fermentability. Our objective was to evaluate the effects of starch concentration and starch fermentability of diets fed during the early postpartum period on dry matter energy intake, energy balance, metabolic responses and production.
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