Effects of body condition and diet in late gestation on the subsequent health and performance of dairy cows

2007 ◽  
Vol 47 (5) ◽  
pp. 495 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. R. Stockdale

The objective of the experiment reported here was to compare the effects of a total mixed ration (TMR) with a pasture hay diet on the healthy transition from late gestation to early lactation of dairy cows with different body condition scores [BCS; 4.2 (thin) and 5.8 (fat) units on an 8-point scale]. It was hypothesised that providing the dietary cation-anion differences (DCAD) of the two diets were similar, more clinical and subclinical hypocalcaemia would be recorded in fat cows than in thin cows, and that this would not be affected by type of diet. The design of the experiment included 72 cows in a 2 × 2 factorial (two BCS × two types of diet fed for the 4 weeks before expected calving date) where cows were fed individually indoors before calving, and grazed pasture and fed concentrates after calving. The calculated DCAD of the two diets were similar (22.1 v. 18.4 meq/100 g DM for the hay and TMR diets) as were the precalving urine pH levels (7.73 and 7.74) of the cows. Intakes of hay and TMR during late gestation were on average 8.8 and 9.3 kg DM/cow.day, respectively, but the patterns of intake varied, with hay intake declining over the 3 weeks before calving and that of TMR remaining relatively constant until just before parturition. Cows fed hay had higher (P < 0.05) non-esterified fatty acid (0.90 v. 0.64 mmol/L), β-hydroxybutyrate (0.61 v. 0.43 mmol/L) and calcium (2.50 v. 2.24 mmol/L) concentrations, and lower (P < 0.05) glucose (3.03 v. 3.21 mmol/L) concentrations, than the cows fed the TMR before calving. Immediately after calving, most of these differences had disappeared. Average blood serum calcium concentrations within 12 h of calving were similar (P > 0.05) in cows fed each diet (1.94 and 1.79 mmol/L for hay and TMR, respectively). At calving, concentrations of serum calcium and urea were greater (P < 0.05) in the thin cows than the fat cows. Only fat cows had clinical hypocalcaemia (serum calcium concentrations <1.40 mmol/L) or needed to be treated for milk fever either at calving or in the week following calving, whereas there tended to be more thin cows with subclinical hypocalcaemia (serum calcium concentrations of 1.40–2.00 mmol/L). Subclinical ketosis (serum β-hydroxybutyrate concentrations of 1.00–3.00 mmol/L) was more prevalent in fat cows than in thin cows; otherwise health disorders were evenly spread across treatments. In the first 5 weeks of lactation, there were no significant (P > 0.05) effects of late gestation diet on any aspect of production. In contrast, there were positive (P < 0.05) effects of BCS on milk yield and concentrations of fat and protein in milk. The hypothesis concerning the amount and severity of hypocalcaemia in fat cows was only partially supported by the results, but type of diet had no effects on cow health or subsequent production.

2001 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
pp. 823 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. R. Stockdale

With the current increases in genetic merit and feeding occurring at farm level, dairy cows are under increasing nutritional stress in early lactation. Cows obtain their energy at this time from the feeds they eat and from body reserves. The relationship between body condition at calving and productivity of dairy cows has been reviewed, with particular emphasis on interactions between body condition and nutrition in early lactation. Recent research on the influence of body condition at calving on subsequent milk productivity, conducted mainly in the United Kingdom with complete diets fed indoors, has produced results in apparent conflict with the previous results from southern Australia and New Zealand where cows grazed pasture. In particular, the overseas research suggests considerably less advantage to improvements in body condition than had been previously thought. It is concluded that more information is needed concerning the interaction between body condition at calving and nutrition in early lactation, with dietary energy and protein both being important. There is a suggestion that, when complete diets are fed, it is better to achieve high energy concentrations in post-calving diets by the use of high-fibre concentrates with a fat supplement, rather than with high-starch concentrates. This has implications for dairying in Australia, since cereal grains are the major energy supplement used on many farms in early lactation and recent research has indicated that immediate marginal milk production responses to the use of concentrates may be poorer with fat cows than with thin cows. Reports from controlled feeding experiments indicate that fat cows need more dietary protein than thin cows and undegradable dietary protein might be of more concern than rumen degradable protein. However, in dairy systems where pasture is a considerable proportion of the diet, benefits of supplying specific undegradable dietary protein supplements still need to be established. Recent research has suggested that pasture appears to provide considerable quantities of undegradable dietary protein, even though the crude protein in pasture is potentially highly degradable in the rumen. Body condition at calving may also affect subsequent reproductive performance. This is due to its association with the degree of negative energy balance occurring in early lactation and because fat cows may be more susceptible to metabolic disease(s). While the mechanisms involved are probably quite complex, increases in animal productivity will generate more stress in cows at a time of their annual cycle when stress needs to be minimised. Further understanding is required to link the relevancy of overseas research to Australian dairy farming conditions where pasture is a key input.


2010 ◽  
Vol 79 (3) ◽  
pp. 459-468 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matteo Gianesella ◽  
Massimo Morgante ◽  
Calogero Stelletta ◽  
Licia Ravarotto ◽  
Elisabetta Giudice ◽  
...  

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of the rumenocentesis procedure on dairy cows by determining selected metabolic and physiological variables representing the health status. Two groups of 6 cows either underwent rumenocentesis (GA) or sham (GB) procedures. Superficial skin temperature of the rumenocentesis area was measured using infrared thermography before the procedure (-1 h), immediately after (0 h), and at 48 h, 96 h, and 20 days following rumenocentesis. Blood samples were collected at all times, except for immediately after the procedure (0 h), and selected immunologic response variables were determined. Milk yield and rectal temperatures were measured daily. Rumenocentesis did not influence the white blood cell count, haptoglobin or total protein concentrations. Electrophoretic protein fractions were not different between GA and GB treatments. Milk yield and rectal temperature were not affected by rumenocentesis. Skin temperature of the rumenocentesis region in GA group cows increased by 1.0 °C immediately after rumenocentesis and returned to baseline after 48 h where it remained constantly until the end of the study; similar to observation in GB group cows. Results of this study would suggest minimal adverse effects on cow health and production when performing rumenocentesis for the diagnosis of subacute ruminal acidosis. Additional more intensive studies addressing animal welfare issues relative to the diagnostic techniques are needed.


Author(s):  
L. Naher ◽  
M. A. Samad ◽  
S. H. M. F. Siddiki ◽  
M. T. Islam

Background: Bovine Milk fever (MF/hypocalcaemia) and ketosis (CK/hypoglycemia and hyperketonemia) both in clinical and sub-clinical forms are the most important metabolic diseases caused by metabolic disorders of calcium and carbohydrate respectively that affect mainly high milk yielding dairy cows worldwide. Sub-clinical form may be more costly due to comparatively high prevalence and consequence of high risk of decreased productive and reproductive performances with increased reproductive and other disorders. Objectives: The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of sub-clinical hypocalcaemia (SCHC) and sub-clinical ketosis (SCK) and to investigate important potential risk factors for SCHC and SCK with their therapeutic management in lactating cross-bred dairy cows. Materials and Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted on 220 dairy crossbred (HF  L = 190, SH  L = 20 and JS  L = 10) cows maintained in nine dairy farms and one smallholder farm during the period from July to November 2016. The parity (1 to 8), lactation stages (1 to 13 weeks), body condition score (BCS), breed (3 crossbreds), age (3.5 to 14 years) and milk yield (liter/day) were evaluated as possible risk factors. The serum calcium, inorganic phosphorus, magnesium and glucose concentrations of the 220 dairy cows were determined by using imported commercial kits. Dairy cows with serum calcium concentrations  8.0 mg/dl and serum glucose  44.0 mg / dl with positive ketone tests but not showing any clinical signs were considered SCHC and SCK respectively. Results: The overall prevalence of SCHC was 30.0%, of which 32.11% were recorded in HF  L, 15.0% in SH  L and 20.0% in JS  L cross-bred cows. The overall prevalence of SCK was 25.0%, of which 27.37% in HF  L, 10.0% in SH  L and 10.0% in JS  L cross-bred cows. The SCHC was recorded 10 times greater than MF and SCK 6 times greater than CK in Bangladesh. The hypocalcemia and hypophosphatemia with hypermagnesemia status were recorded in SCHC affected lactating cows which were more significantly (p < 0.05) higher (46.67%) at 4th parity and lower (16.67%) at 1st parity. The significantly (p < 0.01) higher prevalence of SCK was recorded at the 4th (53.33%) in comparison to other parity especially lowest at 1st (2.78%) and 2nd (4.0%) parity. The significantly (p < 0.1) highest prevalence of SCHC and SCK were recorded at high milk yield during the 1st (94.44%; 77.78%) and 2nd (66.67%; 56.67%) weeks of lactation period than the higher lactation stages respectively. The effects of BCS on the milk yield and the prevalence of SCHC and SCK are presented and discussed. Encouraging results with increased blood calcium and glucose levels were obtained on the therapeutic response of SCHC with oral calcium and SCK with oral propylene glycol. Conclusions: The SCHC and SCK have detrimental effects on cow health, productivity and reproduction and also predisposes to other diseases and disorders. The efficient balanced ration, periodic screening blood, milk and urine for determination of concerned biochemical constituents and ketone bodies considering risk factors could help to early detection of SCHC and SCK to limit their effects in dairy cattle. The high prevalence of SCHC and SCK recorded in this study should be viewed as a potential health risk to the transition cows that requires further research. Keywords: Sub-clinical milk fever, Sub-clinical ketosis, crossbred cows, prevalence, risk factors, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, glucose, ketone bodies, therapeutic management, Bangladesh


2004 ◽  
Vol 167 (3) ◽  
pp. 281-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
H.A. Seifi ◽  
M. Mohri ◽  
J. Kalamati Zadeh
Keyword(s):  
Urine Ph ◽  

2020 ◽  
Vol 82 ◽  
pp. 211-219
Author(s):  
Sue McCoard ◽  
Shen-Yan Hea ◽  
Catherine McKenzie ◽  
Kirsty Hammond ◽  
Tim Smith

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect that body condition score of pregnant ewes fed on turnip and swede crops during mid-late gestation had on offspring survival and performance. Data were collected from 755 multiparous mixed-age ewes carrying 1–4 fetuses. Ewes grazed a turnip crop for 1 month prior to pregnancy scanning with supplementary ryegrass/clover baleage (~75 days gestation) followed by a swede crop with supplementary Lucerne baleage for 1 month following pregnancy scanning (to ~120 days gestation). Ewe body condition score (BCS) at mating, pregnancy scanning and pre-lambing, along with lamb survival and growth rates to weaning were recorded. Lamb survival from pregnancy scanning to tailing differed by litter size (P<0.001) with lower survival in litters with 3 or more lambs compared to singles and twins which did not differ. Improving BCS from pregnancy scanning to 120 days gestation had a positive effect on lamb survival irrespective of litter size and ewe age (P<0.001). Lamb survival in ewes ≥5 years of age, irrespective of litter size, was lower (P<0.001) compared to 2 or 3–4-year-old ewes, which in turn did not differ from each other. The key finding of the study was that loss in BCS from pregnancy scanning to 120 days gestation, negatively impacted on lamb survival, especially in ewes carrying 3 or more fetuses and in ewes >5 years of age irrespective of the number of fetuses carried. Furthermore, there was high variation in BCS change observed in both early and mid-pregnancy.  


2004 ◽  
Vol 44 (6) ◽  
pp. 539 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. R. Stockdale

An experiment was conducted to investigate the interaction between the responses of cows fed magnesium sulfate during late gestation and body condition score (BCS). Cows were fed a total mixed ration before calving and a pasture-based diet in early lactation. Seventy-two cows were fed differentially to achieve target BCS, on an 8-point scale, of about 4, 5 and 6 units, 1 month before calving. Cows were individually fed a total mixed ration of maize silage, crushed barley, canola meal and barley straw at about 1.6 kg dry matter (DM)/100 kg liveweight during the 27 days, on average, before parturition. In each BCS treatment, half the cows were fed 105–155 g magnesium sulfate (depending on liveweight) in the last 3 weeks while the remaining cows were provided with 18–27 g magnesium oxide, maintaining similar levels of magnesium in both diets.The dietary cation–anion difference of the control and magnesium sulfate diets averaged +5.1 and –5.5�cmol(+)/kg, respectively, while urine pH values were 6.4 and 5.4, respectively. The cows fed the control diet, on average, calved in better condition (P<0.05) than those fed magnesium sulfate (BCS at calving were 5.1 and 4.7 units for the control and the magnesium sulfate treatments, respectively). The feed intake of cows that did not receive magnesium sulfate was maintained until the day before calving whereas the feed intake of cows fed magnesium sulfate declined sharply from about a week before calving, and was always lower (P<0.05) than the control group. During the 4 weeks before parturition, the cows in the medium BCS group generally consumed more DM than did those in the other 2 BCS treatments (8.9 v. 7.4 and 8.2 kg DM/cow.day; P<0.05). During the 2 days before calving, all cows had similar intakes (7.7 kg DM/cow.day; P>0.05). The control diet resulted in lower concentrations of total blood serum calcium but only immediately after calving (1.90 v. 2.02 mmol/L; P<0.05). The production data indicated that magnesium sulfate had no effect (P>0.05) on either milk yield or milk composition even though the use of magnesium sulfate reduced the incidence of subclinical hypocalcaemia from 64 to 46%. However, there was a positive relationship between BCS at calving and milk fat concentration (P<0.05). There were no significant (P>0.05) interactions between dietary additives and the BCS of the cows. In conclusion, the use of magnesium sulfate resulted in the relative maintenance of blood calcium concentrations, reducing the incidence of subclinical hypocalcaemia at calving, while having a negative effect on intake before calving. However, these effects were not translated into benefits in animal production.


Animals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 1478 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alfredo Rodríguez ◽  
Ricardo Mellado ◽  
Hedie Bustamante

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of two levels of fat mobilization at the close-up period in dairy cows with an equal body condition score (BCS = 3.0) on the circulating concentrations of metabolic, inflammatory, and oxidative stress biomarkers, incidence of diseases, behavior, milk production, and fertility during the postpartum. Late-gestation multiparous Holstein cows (n = 59) with a body condition score of 3.0 (5-point scale) were enrolled at the beginning of the close-up period and then were followed during the entire lactation. Cows were retrospectively allocated into two groups: animals with prepartum non-esterified fatty acids concentration over 0.3 mmol/L were categorized as high fat mobilization (HFM) (n = 26), and below this threshold as low fat mobilization (LFM) (n = 33). Blood samples were collected 21 d before expected calving and once weekly for 3 wk postpartum in order to analyze β-hydroxybutirate, haptoglobin, fibrinogen, total proteins, and malondialdehyde. Health was observed daily for 21 d postpartum. Behavioral data was collected with an accelerometer and milk production and fertility were obtained from the farm records. An increased fat mobilization in dairy cows with equal BCS modified the inflammatory and oxidative stress responses during the early postpartum without impairing their health status and fertility. Moreover, milk production and behavior were markedly affected by excessive prepartum fat mobilization through lactation.


2007 ◽  
Vol 2007 ◽  
pp. 101-101
Author(s):  
C. M. Atkin ◽  
A. M. Mackenzie ◽  
D. Wilde ◽  
L. A. Sinclair

It is well established that zinc is an essential micro-nutrient required to maintain health and performance in dairy cows (Underwood and Suttle, 2004). Cattle diets are traditionally supplemented with inorganic minerals (e.g. zinc oxide), but these may be poorly absorbed, resulting in an economic and environmental cost due to excess minerals being excreted. It is claimed organically bound minerals are able to resist interaction before and at the absorption site in the small intestine (Power, 2006), which may result in a lower dietary inclusion rate being required. The objective of the current experiment was to investigate the effect of an organically bound source of Zn as a replacement for inorganic Zn on dairy cow health and performance when supplemented at and below the recommended level.


2001 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 335-339
Author(s):  
M. Titterton ◽  
L.D. Weaver

AbstractThe relationship between body condition at calving, uterine tone and discharge, time to first oestrus and changes in concentration of serum calcium and magnesium in early post partum was examined in 209 multiparous dairy cows located in four herds in the San Joaquin Valley of California. Body condition score (BCS) was graded from 0 to 5 and BCS at calving was estimated from BCS in the late dry period (LDBCS). Uterine tone and discharge were graded from l(best) to 3(worst) after rectal palpation at two weeks post partum. Concentrations of blood metabolites and levels of progesterone were determined from blood samples taken at selected stages of lactation from the late dry period to ten weeks post partum. Abnormal uterine discharges were strongly correlated with uterine tone. Uterine tone and discharge scores were significantly lower in cows that calved with body condition scores of 2.5 and 3.0 than in those which calved with body condition scores of < 2.5 and ≥ 3.5. Serum calcium and magnesium concentrations were higher at two weeks post partum in cows with scores of 2.5 and 3 than in cows with higher or lower scores. Serum calcium and magnesium concentrations appeared to be higher with decrease in grades of uterine discharge and tone but this was significant only in the case of serum calcium and uterine discharge. The number of days to first oestrus was significantly associated with uterine discharge and tone (P < 0.05) but not significantly associated with LDBCS. The number of days to second oestrus was not significantly associated with uterine discharge and tone but was significantly less in cows with LDBCS 3 (17.28 days) than cows with lower or higher LDBCS (P < 0.05). It is concluded that body condition at calving is associated with serum micromineral balance and subsequent uterine and ovarian health. Based on these measurable indicators, cows calving with body condition scores of 2.5 and 3 appeared to be in optimum condition for post partum reproductive performance.


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