During early lactation, cows experience huge negative
energy balance and insufficient dry matter intake (DMI)
that may increase the incidence of energy-related metabolic
disorders. As achieving maximum potential intake is
difficult during this critical stage, a promising approach is
to use additives that increase the digestibility of the diet,
especially fiber fractions, and consequently increase energy
and nutrient supply. Live yeasts are among those additives
that have been shown to increase digestibility of fiber and
CP (Erasmus et al., 1992; Wohlt et al., 1998) in some but
not all (Arambel and Kent, 1990; Wohlt et al., 1991) studies.
As an alternative, some forms of complex oligosaccharides