Concentrate feeding, dry-matter intake, and metabolic disorders in Danish dairy cows

Abstract

Data from 3676 lactations of 1856 cows recorded during 12 years in three Danish research herds was used to study the associations between postpartum feeding, diseases, and feed intake. The diseases included four clinical metabolic disorders diagnosed by veterinarians: decreased rumen motility, enteritis, ketosis, and left-displaced abomasum (LDA). Because the feeds offered to and refused by cows were weighed individually for each cow, the actual concentrate dry-matter intake (DMI) and roughage DMI were used. Weekly recordings of feed intake were available. Odds of metabolic disorders according to concentrate management in the early lactation were studied through three analyses. Effect of total concentrate DMI was analysed for cows fed their concentrates mainly separately from roughage. Effect of concentrate DMI to total DMI ratio was analysed for cows that predominately were fed a total mixed ration (TMR). Effect of percentage of the total concentrate DMI that was fed with roughage was analysed for cows that did not have access to summer pasture. From these analyses it seems to be the early-lactation feeding of concentrates separately from roughage and not the concentrate to roughage ratio within a TMR that is associated with increased odds of metabolic disorders. Through analyses of DMI in the weeks around the diagnoses, it was found that each disorder was associated with decreased total DMI, for at least the week before and 2 weeks after diagnosis. The effect persisted more than 4 weeks in cows with ketosis and in primiparous cows with LDA. LDA and ketosis was associated with more weeks of ‘pre-clinical’ decreased DMI.