An Attempt to Prevent Production Diseases in Dairy andad hocTreatment Cows by Intense Monitoring

Abstract

A trial has been performed on 201 dairy cows from two Italian commercial herds in order to verify whether the mitigation of a recognized negative energy balance (NEB) by a therapeutic mean may influence the incidence of peri-partum diseases. All animals were tested for beta-hydroxybutyrate (b-HOB) and non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) three times a week from 2 weeks before the expected due time to 2 weeks after calving. Animals whose blood levels were above b-HOB>1.2 or NEFA>0.5 mmol/L were declared POSITIVE and then split in two groups. Group T animals (n=57) were treated with a glycogenic treatment (ENERGAN KETOSIS, Virbac). The treatment was repeated daily as long as biochemical values remained abnormal. Group C animals (n=48) served as untreated controls. Animals with values within the physiological range over the study period were said NEGA-TIVE (n=96). This study confirmed that animals presenting excessive b-HOB or NEFA concentrations show a higher risk to get sick during the study period (P<0.05), the major risk being clinical ketosis (P<0.01) and in a lesser extend retention of the placenta (P=0.09). The application of a glycogenic treatment did not show an impact on blood metabolite levels due to huge individual differences. However, application of the treatment for an average duration of 5 days tends to reduce the incidence of all the diseases related to a NEB. Moreover, untreated control animals were more likely to get dislocation of the abomasum (P<0.05) than NEGATIVE animals whereas treated animals were not.

Effects of different dosages of propylene glycol in dry cows and cows in early lactation

“…Nielsen & Ingvartsen (2004) published similar findings: PG induces the most extensive decreases in serum BHB in cattle with higher NEFA concentrations, so in fresh cows, not in dry and close up cows. Cows with low antepartum BHB and NEFA concentrations are less likely to develop typical post-partum diseases like clinical ketosis, displaced abomasum, milk fever or retained placenta than animals with higher blood levels of NEFA and BHB antepartum (Coiatelli et al 2015; Tatone et al 2015). Hence the administration of PG in cows with reduced feed intake antepartum is advisable.…”