Friday 27 October 2017

Prevention and control of milk fever, hypomagnesemia in dairy cattle

- In livestock, the temperature is actually lower not higher; its a misnomer of the word
“fever”

• Found around the time of parturition

• Animals: sheep, goats, cattle (rare) and domestic animals (actually have increase in
temperature)

- Jersey and to a lesser, Swedish red and white, and Norwegian red breeds have a
higher incidence of milk fever
- The risk of cow developing milk fever increases with age
• It is rare for this to happen at first calving
- Vit D deficiency, reduction in production of 1.25 (OH)2D3, resulting increase the risk of
milk fever

• Normal plasma 20-50 ng/ml

• Milk fever: < 5 ng/ml
- Dietary Phosphorus
• Prepartum diets high in phosphorus…
- Parity
• the later parity cows produce more colostrum and milking making demand for Ca
greater

• History of milk fever seems to be a large determinate of whether or not a cow

develops hypoclalcemia and milk fever at subsequent milking

• Luminal dysfunction, acidosis of the rumen and diarrhoea decreases calcium

absorption from intestine, whereas high content of oxalate, silicate and phytastes,…
- 6.5, 5.5, 4.5ng/ml after parturition
- Reduction in Ca content of diet
• Low Ca diet <20g/day last 2 weeks before parturition
• use of dietary straw and calcium binding agents such as zeolite, zinc oxide
• Ca;P ration 1.3:3
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Prevention of Lameness
- Acidosis of the rumen causes hoof problems such as lameness
- Lameness is detrimental to animal welfare and it one of the three main reasons for
involuntary culling

• Cost is 220 EUR or 300US per case

- Usually in a 100 cow heard only 6 are detected, but 30 are actually lame
- Pedometers are helpful to detect this
• also helpful in detecting heat b/c the cows will walk more when in estrus
- Trim hoofs 2x per year
- How to manage lameness
• Lying time= 12 hours
• Feeding time= 5 hours
• Moving time in aisles and feed area= 3 hours
• Standing time in cubicle= 2 hours
• milking time= 2 hours
- How to reduce lameness
• Cover soft cow mattresses with 2-3 cm of bedding
• provide ample space to lie down and stand up
- Perform foot bath after milking (copper sulphate solution)
- Proper claw trimming
- Treatment
• Early detection is crucial
• Treat acute cases early
• treatment of digital dermatitis on individual cow basis
- Average life expectancy is 6 years
• first pregnancy around 2 years
• usually have minimum three lactations
Calving Assistance
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about 5% of cases require assistance

Hormonal changes during parturition

- Progesterone decrease
- Estrogen
- Cortisol
- Prolactin
Stages of parturition
- Preparatory (2-6 hours)
• calf rotates to upright position
• uterine contractions begin (~every 15 minutes)
- after calving it’s every 2 minutes
• Water sac expelled
- Delivery (1 hour or less)
• Cows usually lying down
• fetes enters birth canal
• front feet and head protrudes first
• calf delivery complete
• Assistance if this process takes more than 2 hours
- Cleaning (2-8 hours)
• Caruncle….
- Fetal expulsion (1-3 hours)
- expulsion of placenta or afterbirth (up to 2 days)
- Dystocia: Calving or birth difficulty
• Normal delivery should be completed within two to three hours after the water sac
appears in heifers, and one to two hours in cows…

Steps in calving assistance

1. Conduct a pelvic exam

2. Determine position of fetus

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3. Examine size of the calf relative to the birth canal

A. if too big, can paralyse cow

B. if determined early, a successful C-section can be done

4. Attach obstetrical chain to the front legs

Improper use of force can cause serious damage to the pelvis

Starting the calf

- Clear the airways and clean mucus from the mouth
- stimulate the calf by rubbing vigorously
- if necessary give artificial respiration
Post delivery problems

- Uterine prolapse-inversion of the uterus

• Caused by prolonged labor
• difficult birth
• excessive traction
• subclinical milk fever
• should be treated as an emergency
- Retained placenta
• if not treated, poses health threat to cow and will cause problems with rebreeding
• Wait 48 hours, give injectable antibiotics along with uterine boluses or uterine
infusions. Observe closely for sings of infection