Relationships between body condition score change, prior mid-lactation phenotypic residual feed intake, and hyperketonemia onset in transition dairy cows.
Extensive efforts have been made to identify more feed-efficient dairy cows, yet it is unclear how selection for feed efficiency will influence metabolic health. The objectives of this research were to determine the relationships between residual feed intake (RFI), a measure of feed efficiency, body condition score (BCS) change, and hyperketonemia (HYK) incidence. Blood and milk samples were collected twice weekly from cows 5 to 18 d postcalving for a total of 4 samples. Hyperketonemia was diagnosed at a blood β-hydroxybutyrate (BHB) ≥1.2 mmol/L and cows were treated upon diagnosis. Dry period, calving, and final blood sampling BCS was recorded. Prior mid-lactation production, body weight, body weight change, and dry matter intake (DMI) data were used to determine RFI phenotype, calculated as the difference between observed DMI and predicted DMI. The maximum BHB concentration (BHBmax) for each cow was used to group cows into HYK or not hyperketonemic. Lactation number, BCS, and RFI data were analyzed with linear and quadratic orthogonal contrasts. Of the 570 cows sampled, 19.7% were diagnosed with HYK. The first positive HYK test occurred at 9 ± 0.9 d postpartum and the average BHB concentration at the first positive HYK test was 1.53 ± 0.14 mmol/L. In the first 30 d postpartum, HYK-positive cows had increased milk yield and fat concentration, decreased milk protein concentration, and decreased somatic cell count. Cows with a dry BCS ≥4.0, or that lost 1 or more BCS unit across the transition to lactation period, had greater BHBmaxthan cows with lower BCS. Prior-lactation RFI did not alter BHBmax. Avoiding over conditioning of dry cows and subsequent excessive fat mobilization during the transition period may decrease HYK incidence; however, RFI during a prior lactation does not appear to be associated with HYK onset.
Department of Dairy Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison 53706.
Francesca M
FM
Rathbun
Department of Dairy Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison 53706.
Ryan S
RS
Pralle
Department of Dairy Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison 53706.
Sandra J
SJ
Bertics
Department of Dairy Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison 53706.
Louis E
LE
Armentano
Division of Animal Breeding and Genetics, National Institute of Animal Science, Cheonan 21001, Korea.
K
K
Cho
Division of Animal and Dairy Science, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 34134, Korea.
C
C
Do
Department of Dairy Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison 53706.
Kent A
KA
Weigel
Department of Dairy Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison 53706. Electronic address: heather.white@wisc.edu.
Heather M
HM
White
D020155:3-Hydroxybutyric Acid / Q000097:blood; D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight; D002417:Cattle; D004032:Diet / Q000662:veterinary*; D005260:Female; D007774:Lactation; D008892:Milk
D020155:3-Hydroxybutyric Acid
body condition score; feed efficiency; hyperketonemia