Changes of Serum Calcium Concentration, Frequency of Ruminal Contraction and Feed Intake Soon after Parturition of Dairy Cows Fed Difructose Anhydride III

Abstract

Requirements to control the large decrease in serum calcium (Ca) due to parturition and to increase the feed intake soon after parturition have been well accepted in dairy cows. This study was aimed to investigate the feed intake affected by serum Ca concentration with difructose anhydride (DFA) III supplement in dairy cows soon after parturition. Fourteen transition Holstein cows were divided into DFA and control (CONT) groups within 1 to 5 parity variations in each group. Measurement schedule for an individual cow was from 14 d before parturition to 7 d following parturition. The cows in DFA group were supplied 0.2 kg/head/d of DFA III feed containing 40 g of pure DFA III while the cows in CONT group received no DFA III. Other feeding procedures were the same for all cows in both groups. At parturition (d 0), serum Ca concentration sharply declined in both groups (p<0.05). Time interval for recovery from decreased serum Ca to its normal range (>9.0 mg/dL) tended to be faster in DFA group (12 h) than in the CONT group (48 h), but the differences were not significant. Active ruminal contraction was observed in DFA group at following parturition of d 1 (p<0.05), d 3 (p<0.05), and d 5 (p<0.01). Dry matter (DM) intake did not differ between the groups. However, positive correlations were observed between serum Ca concentration and ruminal contraction (p<0.001), and between ruminal contraction and DM intake (p<0.001) during following parturition. According to multiple regression analysis (R2 = 0.824, p<0.001), the DM intake was positively affected by serum Ca concentration and ruminal contraction. These results suggest that feed intake soon after parturition in dairy cows can be increased by improvement of serum Ca concentration and active ruminal contraction, but DFA III supplementation in this study did not improve the lower serum Ca concentration due to parturition.

Effect of parity number on the dry matter intake of dairy cows during the first week after calving

“…The average DMI during the first week after calving was positively associated with the serum Ca concentration immediately after calving ( p < .01). This result agreed with those obtained by Wynn et al () and Reshalaitihan and Hanada (). Wynn et al () demonstrated that serum Ca concentration during the first week after calving was positively associated with the rumen contraction frequency and the DMI after calving.…”

Assessing the correlation between metabolic parameters and risk factors in transition cows

“…As known decreased Ca +2 levels a few days before calving is quite a little at 12-24 hours after calving and get back to normal levels until three to four days later (Goff, 2008;Martinez et al, 2012). Considering to Ca +2 levels are lowest at postpartum first two days (Goff, 2008) and increase after postpartum 3rd day (Martinez et al, 2012), postpartum increased Ca +2 levels in our study may be explained with the feeding of dairy cows after calving, development of ruminal contraction (Wynn et al,2015) and with postpartum blood analysis performed at 1st and 2nd weeks not first 2 days in our study.…”

Influence of calving difficulty on dry matter intake immediately after calving of dairy cows

“…Cows with low serum Ca concentrations showed inactive digestive tract motility (Goff, ). Wynn, Teramura, Sato, and Hanada () demonstrated that serum Ca concentrations after calving were positively associated with the rumen contraction frequency and DMI after calving. Although there was no significant difference in the serum Ca concentration at 3 days after calving between the first lactation heifers and the multiparous cows, the serum Ca concentration generally tends to be low in high parity cows (Teramura et al., ; Wynn et al., ).…”

“…Wynn, Teramura, Sato, and Hanada () demonstrated that serum Ca concentrations after calving were positively associated with the rumen contraction frequency and DMI after calving. Although there was no significant difference in the serum Ca concentration at 3 days after calving between the first lactation heifers and the multiparous cows, the serum Ca concentration generally tends to be low in high parity cows (Teramura et al., ; Wynn et al., ). First lactation heifers can maintain serum Ca at steady concentrations without any treatments after calving because low parity cows absorb Ca efficiently, owing to active mechanisms of Ca homeostasis, including Ca absorption from the intestine and bone resorption (Bronner, ; Goff, Reinhardt, & Horst, ; Kamiya, Kamiya, Tanaka, & Shioya, ).…”