Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Survey of nutritional management practices and metabolic disorders in West Virginia dairy herds.
- Journal:
- Journal of dairy science
- Year:
- 1985
- Authors:
- Varga, G A et al.
Plain-English summary
In a study of dairy farms in West Virginia, researchers talked to sixteen farmers to learn about their feeding practices and any health issues in their cows. They looked at health records and tested the feed used on these farms, which had a total of 1,870 cows producing an average of about 6,387 kilograms of milk each year. Most farmers used testing services for their feed and sought professional advice to improve their cows' diets, especially before and after calving. However, some cows had problems due to imbalances in their diets, like too much or too little energy, protein, phosphorus, and calcium, which were linked to the cows becoming overly fat. Overall, while the farms had a low to average rate of metabolic disorders, the biggest issue they faced was low butter fat in the milk.
Abstract
Sixteen farmers, representing three major dairy counties in West Virginia, were interviewed to determine current dairy management practices. Herd health records were used to determine the incidence of metabolic and digestive disorders. All feedstuffs used on these farms were sampled for chemical analyses. The total number of cows on the 16 farms surveyed was 1870 with an average herd size of 117 and 6387 kg milk produced per cow per year. Fourteen of the 16 farmers used forage testing services, obtained professional advice on feeding and nutrition, and attempted to feed according to production. Eleven of sixteen farmers increased grain 2 weeks prior to calving and all gradually adjusted the intake of grain to cows recently freshened. Ration imbalance problems included both excesses and deficiencies of energy, protein, phosphorus, and calcium. Excess calcium, phosphorous, and crude protein were correlated (P less than .01, r2 = .74) with the incidence of fat cows. The incidence of metabolic disorders in these herds was low to average and the most prevalent management problem encountered was low butter fat.
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Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/4019888/