45TH UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM FEED CONFERENCE ABSTRACTS
We are grateful to the organisers for permission to publish the abstracts from the 45th Nottingham Feed Conference. This is the third set of abstracts from the 2013 Conference and further ones will appear in the next issues of Feed Compounder Full papers will be published in ‘Recent Advances in Animal Nutrition – 2013’
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IMPACTS OF NUTRITION PRE-CALVING ON PERIPARTURIENT DAIRY COW HEALTH AND NEONATAL CALF HEALTH John F. Mee Teagasc, Animal and Bioscience Department, Moorepark Research Centre, Fermoy, Co. Cork, Ireland
The nutritional management of dairy cows after calving is a priority on all well run dairy farms. However, the nutritional management of dairy cows pre-calving does not always attract the same level of attention (‘orphan disorder syndrome’). A similar issue arises with the rearing of calves and replacement heifers on dairy farms. This analogy was also true for the research on the relationships between pre-calving nutrition and dairy cow and calf health until the ‘discovery’ of the ‘transition cow’ in the mid-1990s. This relatively recent focus on the importance of the three weeks either side of calving for subsequent productivity, health and fertility has redrawn attention to the pre- calving nutrition of dairy cows. Even then, the greatest interest is in effects on milk production and fertility, not cow health. Additionally, relatively little attention has been paid to the effects of pre-calving nutrition of the dam on the health of its calf with most focus on the health management of the calf. This review focuses on the impacts of pre-calving nutrition
on both the periparturient health of the dairy cow and of her calf. Approximately 75% of disease in dairy cows occurs within the first month after calving and in the case of some diseases, e.g. milk fever, 99% of cases occur with a week of calving. Nutrition topics covered include pre-calving body condition score (BCS), feed composition and feed level and feeding management. Health topics covered include periparturient cow disorders, colostrum quantity and quality and calf health. Though the focus of this paper is on the relationships between nutrition and individual health disorders this is not to imply the former is the only or most important determinant of the latter or that the latter occur independently of each other, on the contrary inter-relationships are the norm in, for example, the ‘metabolic disease complex’.
Nutrition pre-calving and dairy cow health Despite the conventional wisdom that nutrition and BCS pre-calving have a significant effect on the incidence of dystocia there are only a limited number of studies which examined these relationships in dairy
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heifers and cows. This axiom is primarily an extrapolation from results of older studies in beef cattle, mainly heifers. It may be concluded that there is little effect of maternal nutrition during the last month of gestation on dairy calf birth weight or dystocia. However, it may also be concluded that over-conditioning of dairy heifers and cows pre or at calving is a significant risk factor for dystocia. While traditionally the occurrence of RFM has been attributed to
calving problems and infections acquired thereafter in recent years the role of pre-calving nutrition has been addressed. It may be concluded from these studies that cows offered diets high in linolenic acid and calcium and low in energy density, selenium and vitamin E during the dry period are more likely to have RFM. Only a small number of studies have examined the relationship between BCS and retained fetal membranes (RFM) in dairy cows. It may be concluded from these studies that cows which lose more BCS during the dry period and thin cows at calving are more likely to have RFM. Higher prepartum dietary cation anion difference (DCAD), (high
sodium and potassium, low chloride and sulphur), for example, in grass or grass silage, is associated with increased risk of milk fever and is now considered the primary nutritional hypothesis. In addition, over-conditioning of dairy cows at calving is a significant risk factor for milk fever. It is generally accepted that cows in over-condition pre or at
calving or cows in over-condition at calving which lose BCS during the dry period are at increased risk of both clinical and sub-clinical ketosis. Additionally, feeding high levels of energy-dense ration to cows in good/excessive body condition prepartum coupled with reduced DMI peripartum is a significant risk factor for clinical and sub-clinical ketosis. Given this pathogenesis it is not surprising that recent studies have demonstrated that feeding dry cows high forage- low energy diets has reduced the incidence of clinical and subclinical ketosis and improved energy balance. Nutritional factors which impair abomasal motility and increase
gas accumulation and reduce rumen fill predispose to displaced abomasum (DA). High concentrate-low fibre diets with small particle sizes and diets which induce hypocalcaemia or ketosis are associated with increased abomasal motility and gas production, greater decline in DMI pre-calving and increased incidence of DA. In addition, cows in higher BCS during the dry period and at calving are at greater risk of DA.
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