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. 2013 Jan 10;2:e1. doi: 10.1017/jns.2012.20

Table 4.

Effect of maternal body condition (thin or fat) and gestation feed level (restricted: 1·8 kg/d; control: 2·5 kg/d; or high feed level: 3·5 kg/d) on saliva cortisol levels at day 80 of pregnancy, and IgG levels in colostrum at parturition and day 21 milk composition

(Adjusted mean values with their pooled standard errors)

Thin Fat P*
Treatment 1·8 kg 2·5 kg 3·5 kg 1·8 kg 2·5 kg 3·5 kg sem Body condition Feed level
n 21 23 24 23 25 24
Cortisol (nmol/l) 9·27 7·03 5·79 7·78 6·44 4·21 0·912 0·081 0·001
n 6 9 6 8 10 8
Colostrum composition day 0
IgG (mg/ml) 149·3 99·5 83·3 128·7 123·5 156·3 27·98 0·218 0·527
n 9 14 14 12 15 13
Milk composition day 21
Protein (%) 5·6 5·8 5·6 6·0 5·6 6·1 0·13 0·475 0·881
Fat (%) 7·5 6·1 5·8 7·7 8·1 9·1 0·31 0·003 0·760
Lactose (%) 6·1 5·9 6·1 6·0 6·0 5·7 0·07 0·487 0·613

* There was no significant body condition × feed level interaction for cortisol, colostrum or milk composition.