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Monitoring and Improving the Metabolic Health of Dairy Cows during the Transition Period

SIMPLE SUMMARY: The transition from late gestation to early lactation is a challenging period for dairy cows. A successful transition period depends on metabolic adaptation to the new physiological state in early lactation and proper management in order to support the cow’s requirements. This review...

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Autores principales: Caixeta, Luciano S., Omontese, Bobwealth O.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7911117/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33572498
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani11020352
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author Caixeta, Luciano S.
Omontese, Bobwealth O.
author_facet Caixeta, Luciano S.
Omontese, Bobwealth O.
author_sort Caixeta, Luciano S.
collection PubMed
description SIMPLE SUMMARY: The transition from late gestation to early lactation is a challenging period for dairy cows. A successful transition period depends on metabolic adaptation to the new physiological state in early lactation and proper management in order to support the cow’s requirements. This review paper will discuss various aspects of routine and consistent approaches to collect and analyze herd records, to detect unintended disruptions in performance. In addition, we discuss how to incorporate methods to assess health, production, nutrition, and welfare information to monitor cows during the transition period. Lastly, we discuss management strategies that can be implemented to improve the metabolic health and performance of transition dairy cows. ABSTRACT: The peripartum period of a dairy cow is characterized by several physiological and behavioral changes in response to a rapid increase in nutrient demands, to support the final stages of fetal growth and the production of colostrum and milk. Traditionally, the transition period is defined as the period 3 weeks before and 3 weeks after parturition. However, several researchers have argued that the transition period begins at the time of dry-off (~60–50 days prior to calving) and extends beyond the first month post-calving in high producing dairy cows. Independent of the definition used, adequate adaptation to the physiological demands of this period is paramount for a successful lactation. Nonetheless, not all cows are successful in transitioning from late gestation to early lactation, leading to approximately one third of dairy cows having at least one clinical disease (metabolic and/or infectious) and more than half of the cows having at least one subclinical case of disease within the first 90 days of lactation. Thus, monitoring dairy cows during this period is essential to detect early disease signs, diagnose clinical and subclinical diseases, and initiate targeted health management to avoid health and production impairment. In this review, we discuss different strategies to monitor dairy cows to detected unintended disruptions in performance and management strategies that can be implemented to improve the metabolic health and performance of dairy cows during the transition period.
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spelling pubmed-79111172021-02-28 Monitoring and Improving the Metabolic Health of Dairy Cows during the Transition Period Caixeta, Luciano S. Omontese, Bobwealth O. Animals (Basel) Review SIMPLE SUMMARY: The transition from late gestation to early lactation is a challenging period for dairy cows. A successful transition period depends on metabolic adaptation to the new physiological state in early lactation and proper management in order to support the cow’s requirements. This review paper will discuss various aspects of routine and consistent approaches to collect and analyze herd records, to detect unintended disruptions in performance. In addition, we discuss how to incorporate methods to assess health, production, nutrition, and welfare information to monitor cows during the transition period. Lastly, we discuss management strategies that can be implemented to improve the metabolic health and performance of transition dairy cows. ABSTRACT: The peripartum period of a dairy cow is characterized by several physiological and behavioral changes in response to a rapid increase in nutrient demands, to support the final stages of fetal growth and the production of colostrum and milk. Traditionally, the transition period is defined as the period 3 weeks before and 3 weeks after parturition. However, several researchers have argued that the transition period begins at the time of dry-off (~60–50 days prior to calving) and extends beyond the first month post-calving in high producing dairy cows. Independent of the definition used, adequate adaptation to the physiological demands of this period is paramount for a successful lactation. Nonetheless, not all cows are successful in transitioning from late gestation to early lactation, leading to approximately one third of dairy cows having at least one clinical disease (metabolic and/or infectious) and more than half of the cows having at least one subclinical case of disease within the first 90 days of lactation. Thus, monitoring dairy cows during this period is essential to detect early disease signs, diagnose clinical and subclinical diseases, and initiate targeted health management to avoid health and production impairment. In this review, we discuss different strategies to monitor dairy cows to detected unintended disruptions in performance and management strategies that can be implemented to improve the metabolic health and performance of dairy cows during the transition period. MDPI 2021-01-31 /pmc/articles/PMC7911117/ /pubmed/33572498 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani11020352 Text en © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Review
Caixeta, Luciano S.
Omontese, Bobwealth O.
Monitoring and Improving the Metabolic Health of Dairy Cows during the Transition Period
title Monitoring and Improving the Metabolic Health of Dairy Cows during the Transition Period
title_full Monitoring and Improving the Metabolic Health of Dairy Cows during the Transition Period
title_fullStr Monitoring and Improving the Metabolic Health of Dairy Cows during the Transition Period
title_full_unstemmed Monitoring and Improving the Metabolic Health of Dairy Cows during the Transition Period
title_short Monitoring and Improving the Metabolic Health of Dairy Cows during the Transition Period
title_sort monitoring and improving the metabolic health of dairy cows during the transition period
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7911117/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33572498
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani11020352
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