Association between hyperketonemia in early lactation and culling and hyperketonemia in subsequent lactation in Holstein dairy cows

Abstract

Hyperketonemia (HYK) is an early lactation metabolic disease frequently observed in high-producing dairy cattle and it has been associated with suboptimal reproductive performance, decreased milk yield, increase occurrence of other diseases, and increase in culling. The majority of the reports so far focused on the association of HYK and these outcomes during early lactation, however, the effect of HYK in the whole lactation and following lactations has not been as extensively characterized. Therefore, our primary objective was to evaluate the association of HYK occurring during the first 10 days after calving and culling in Holstein dairy cows throughout an entire lactation. Our secondary objective was to determine the likelihood of the occurrence of HYK in subsequent lactations in Holstein dairy cows.