Associations between lying behavior and activity and hypocalcemia in grazing dairy cows during the transition period

Abstract

Hypocalcemia is a common metabolic disorder of transition dairy cows that is considered a gateway disease, increasing the risk of other health disorders and reducing cow performance. Clinical milk fever is associated with long periods of recumbency, and it is plausible that cows experiencing non-paretic hypocalcemia may spend more time lying; hence, lying behavior and activity measures may be useful in identifying at-risk cows. The objective of this study was to describe associations among blood calcium (Ca) status at calving and lying behavior and activity measures during the transition period in grazing dairy cows. Blood was sampled on the day of calving (d 0), and d 1, 2, 3, and 4 postcalving, and analyzed for total plasma Ca concentration. Twenty-four multiparous Holstein-Friesian and Holstein-Friesian × Jersey grazing dairy cows were classified, retrospectively, as clinically hypocalcemic (CLIN; blood Ca ≤ 1.4 mmol/L at 1 or more consecutive samplings within 48 h postcalving, but without parturient paresis). These cows were pair-matched (using milk production potential from their estimated breeding value for milk protein, mean body weight at wk −5 and −6 precalving, and, where possible, parity) with 24 cows classified as subclinically hypocalcemic (SUB; blood Ca > 1.4 and < 2.0 mmol/L at 2 consecutive samplings within 48 h postcalving), and 24 cows classified as normocalcemic (NORM; blood Ca ≥ 2.0 mmol/L at 3 consecutive samplings within 72 h postcalving). Lying behavior and activity were monitored using triaxial accelerometers from −21 to +35 d relative to calving. Data were summarized to calculate daily lying time (h/d), daily number of lying bouts (LB; no./d), mean LB duration (min/bout), and the number of steps taken (steps/d). On d 0, the CLIN group were less active and spent approximately 2.6 h longer lying than the SUB and NORM groups, particularly between 0200 and 1400 h. On d 0, the NORM group had fewer LB (16.3/d) than the SUB and CLIN groups (18.2 and 19.2/d, respectively). These differences in behavior were no longer detected 2 d postcalving, and no further differences were observed. The day before calving, the CLIN group spent 1.4 h longer lying down than did the SUB and NORM groups. Further, the relative change in steps from a precalving baseline period (d −14 to −7) until d 0 was positively, linearly associated with blood Ca concentration within 24 h postcalving. Future work should consider daily and temporal changes in behavior in individual cows to determine the potential for these measures to allow early detection of hypocalcemia.

Different reticuloruminal pH metrics of high-yielding dairy cattle during the transition period in relation to metabolic health, activity, and feed intake

“…Numerous studies have shown that the disease state of an animal can influence activity levels or pattern or both. Often the transition period is used as a monitoring window, because most diseases occur during this period (Hendriks et al, 2020;Lomb et al, 2020;Steele et al, 2020;Stevenson et al, 2020). In this study, time pH <6 was associated with the number of steps and lying time, but not with the motion index or number of lying bouts.…”

Periparturient Dönemde Süt Sığırlarında Sıklıkla Görülen Subklinik Metabolik Hastalıklara Güncel Yaklaşımlar

“…Son yıllarda yapılan çalışmalar, hayvan davranışlarından klinik ve subklinik hipokalsemi tanısının konulup konulamayacağı üzerinde yoğunlaşmıştır. Bu kapsamda Hendriks et al [87] yapmış oldukları bir araştırmada doğumun gerçekleştiği günde subklinik (Ca>1,4 ve <2,0 mmol L-1) ve klinik (Ca ≤ 1,4 mmol L-1) hipokalsemili ineklerin, sağlıklı (Ca ≥ 2,0 mmol L-1) ineklere kıyasla, dinlenme amaçlı duraklara istatistiksel olarak önemli derecede daha fazla giriş çıkış yaptığını (sağlıklı ineklerde 16,3-gün, subklinik hipokalsemili ineklerde 18,2-gün) bildirmiştir. Aynı çalışmada subklinik hipokalsemili ineklerin günlük adım sayısının sağlıklı ineklere göre sayısal olarak daha az olduğu rapor edilmiştir.…”

A Network Pharmacology and Multi-Omics Combination Approach to Reveal the Effect of Strontium on Ca2+ Metabolism in Bovine Rumen Epithelial Cells

“…At the onset of lactation, many cows are unable to adapt efficiently to the sudden increase in Ca demand, leading to blood Ca concentration decreases and causing hypocalcemia, thereby reducing cow performance and increasing the risk of other health disorders, such as metritis and ketosis [11][12][13][14]. In ruminants, Ca 2+ homeostasis is mainly dependent on the regulation of intestinal Ca absorption, bone Ca resorption, and renal Ca reabsorption [15,16].…”