Management Updates on Prepartal Stress Effects on Transition Cow and Calf Health

Abstract

The transition phase is thought to be the most critical period in high-producing dairy cows’ productive cycle. Maternal stresses during the peripartum period affect both dam and newborn calf health. The objective of this review article was to describe the role of prepartal metabolic and environmental stressors on postpartum-related disorders in both cows and newborn calves. The transition phase (21 d before to 21 d after calving) is considered the most critical period in dairy cattle life. Decreased dry matter intake coincides with increased nutrient demands due to the onset of lactation. It can lead to negative energy balance and tremendous metabolic challenges for high-producing dairy cows. During this time, insulin concentrations and peripheral tissue sensitivity decrease, leading to fat mobilization from adipose tissue. Such incidences would increase levels of non-esterified fatty acids and beta-hydroxybutyric acid in plasma. The success in the transition from the dry to lactating phase depends on how the cow could deal with such challenges. Failure to handle such metabolic alterations may predispose cattle to costly metabolic disorders such as ketosis, fatty liver, retained placenta, displacement abomasum, and infectious diseases, including metritis and mastitis in the postpartum period. The energy content of dairy cow diets in the dry-off (40 days before calving) or close-up (21 days before calving) periods may influence cow physiology and health in the peripartum period. The role of a transition period diet on cow health and productivity in the early or overall lactation period has been frequently investigated. However, the role of stressors such as nutritional deficiencies, heat stress, stocking density, and grouping in the late gestation period on the health and performance of cows and calves are much less addressed. Therefore, the present review delineates and reviews updates on the role of maternal stresses during the peripartum period on dam as well as newborn calf physiology and behavior.