Frequency of maternal supplementation of energy and protein during late gestation modulates preweaning growth of their beef offspring

This study evaluated the effects of decreasing the frequency of dried distillers grains (DDG) supplementation during third trimester of gestation on cow physiology and offspring preweaning growth. At 201 ± 7 d prepartum (day 0 of the study), 120 Brangus crossbred cows were stratified by body weight (BW = 543 ± 53 kg) and body condition score (BCS = 5.47 ± 0.73), and then assigned randomly to 1 of 20 bahiagrass (Paspalum notatum) pastures (six cows and 4.7 ha/pasture). Treatments were randomly assigned to pastures (five pastures/treatment) and consisted of cows offered no DDG supplementation (NOSUP) or precalving supplementation of DDG dry matter at 1 kg/cow daily (7×), 2.33 kg/cow every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (3×), or 7 kg/cow every Monday (1×) from day 0 to 77. All cows assigned to DDG supplementation received the same total amount of DDG dry matter (77 kg/cow) from day 0 to 77. All cow-calf pairs were managed similarly from day 77 until calf weaning (day 342). Supplementation frequency did not impact (P ≥ 0.16) any forage or cow reproduction data. Cow BCS on days 77, 140, and 342 did not differ among 1×, 3×, and 7× cows (P ≥ 0.29) but all supplemented cows, regardless of supplementation frequency, had greater BCS on days 77, 140, and 342 compared to NOSUP cows (P ≤ 0.04). Cows offered 1× supplementation had greater plasma concentrations of IGF-1 on days 35 and 140 compared to NOSUP, 3× and 7× cows (P ≤ 0.04), whereas 3× and 7× cows had greater plasma concentrations of IGF-1 on day 35 compared to NOSUP cows (P ≤ 0.005). Average plasma concentrations of glucose did not differ among 1×, 3×, and 7× cows (P ≥ 0.44), but all supplemented cows had greater plasma concentrations of glucose compared to NOSUP cows (P ≤ 0.05). Birth BW of the first offspring did not differ between 3× and 7× calves (P = 0.54) but both groups were heavier at birth compared to NOSUP calves (P ≤ 0.05). On day 342, calves born from 7× cows were the heaviest (P ≤ 0.05), whereas calves born from 1× and 3× cows had similar BW (P = 0.97) but both groups were heavier compared to calves born from NOSUP cows (P ≤ 0.05). In summary, decreasing the frequency of DDG supplementation, from daily to one or three times weekly, during third trimester of gestation of beef cows did not impact cow BCS but altered maternal plasma concentrations of IGF-1 and glucose, leading to reduced offspring preweaning growth.