Table 2.
Effects of late gestational nutritional plane of primiparous beef females on placental size
| Nutritional plane1 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Item | CON | NR | SEM2 | P-value |
| Ipsilateral side | ||||
| Dry cotyledonary weight, g | 69.0 | 67.3 | 4.1 | 0.77 |
| Dry intercotyledonary weight, g | 103 | 110 | 6 | 0.38 |
| Dry placental weight, g | 172 | 177 | 10 | 0.68 |
| Number of cotyledons | 50.0 | 53.1 | 2.3 | 0.35 |
| Average dry cotyledon weight, g | 1.39 | 1.24 | 0.08 | 0.19 |
| Dry cotyledonary:intercotyledonary weight | 0.676 | 0.610 | 0.018 | 0.02 |
| Dry cotyledonary weight3, % of total | 78.2 | 84.8 | 2.5 | 0.08 |
| Dry intercotyledonary weight3, % of total | 81.8 | 87.1 | 1.8 | 0.05 |
| Dry placental weight3, % of total | 80.1 | 86.2 | 1.9 | 0.03 |
| Number of cotyledons3, % of total | 55.6 | 64.8 | 3.4 | 0.07 |
| Contralateral side | ||||
| Dry cotyledonary weight, g | 18.7 | 11.8 | 2.3 | 0.04 |
| Dry intercotyledonary weight, g | 22.2 | 15.9 | 2.4 | 0.08 |
| Dry placental weight, g | 40.9 | 27.7 | 4.1 | 0.03 |
| Number of cotyledons | 40.4 | 32.2 | 3.4 | 0.10 |
| Average dry cotyledon weight, g | 0.452 | 0.342 | 0.047 | 0.12 |
| Dry cotyledonary:intercotyledonary weight | 0.924 | 0.755 | 0.134 | 0.37 |
| Whole placenta | ||||
| Dry cotyledonary weight, g | 87.0 | 77.1 | 4.5 | 0.13 |
| Dry intercotyledonary weight, g | 125 | 129 | 7 | 0.72 |
| Dry total placental weight, g | 211 | 204 | 11 | 0.64 |
| Number of cotyledons | 90.7 | 83.8 | 3.7 | 0.20 |
| Average dry cotyledon weight, g | 0.975 | 0.935 | 0.057 | 0.63 |
| Dry cotyledonary:intercotyledonary weight | 0.711 | 0.613 | 0.026 | 0.01 |
| Placental efficiency4, kg calf birth weight/g total placental DM | 0.149 | 0.151 | 0.006 | 0.89 |
| Placental weight relative to dam BW5, g total placental DM/kg dam BW | 0.438 | 0.493 | 0.023 | 0.09 |
| Average umbilical vessel diameter, mm | 7.35 | 7.68 | 0.18 | 0.21 |
1Primiparous dams were individually-fed either 100% (Control; CON) or 70% (Nutrient Restricted; NR) of estimated metabolizable energy and metabolizable protein requirements for maintenance, pregnancy, and growth from day 160 of gestation to parturition.
2Standard error of the mean for CON (n = 11) and NR (n = 11 or 12).
3Ipsilateral side dry weight as a percentage of whole placenta dry weight.
4Calf birth weight determined at 0.9 ± 0.3 h (SD) of age (pre-suckling).
5Dam body weight (BW) determined post-calving (days 1 and 2 of lactation).