treatment group including the shift from LP to FLP treatment and illustrates that the expected post-partum
increase in DMI was smaller in LP compared with MP
and HP. Furthermore, DMI in LP started to decrease after
week 6 relative to calving, and pair-wise comparison
revealed that DMI decreased until LP was shifted to FLP
(P o 0.04; data not shown). After treatment shift from LP to
FLP, DMI increased to similar levels as for MP and HP.
Change in BW in the period from parturition to week 12
was affected by treatment (P ¼ 0.02). Thus, the loss of BW
(kg) was higher in LP (137 7 17.8) compared with MP
(55 7 19.9) and HP (65 7 16.3). Change in BW (kg) in the
period from week 12 to 24 was not affected by treatment.
As expected, intake of P increased with increasing
dietary P level (P o 0.001) throughout the experiment
(Tables 3 and 4). In late lactation, P intake increased in
FLP compared with MP and HP (P ¼ 0.001)