Abstract
Blood indicators are used as a tool to diagnose metabolic disorders. The present review aims to study the relationships between body condition score, milk yield, and reproduction and biochemical parameters in dairy cows. Live weight and body condition are indicators for dairy cow’s health, milk productivity, and reproduction. Therefore, many authors investigated the effect of body condition score at calving and of change in body condition score on productive and reproductive performance, on lactation curve parameters, and on postpartum disease occurrence. Moreover, results showed that the cows calving at the highest body condition score lost more subcutaneous fat; condition score change did not exceed 1.05 units. Change in body condition score was positively associated with peak and total milk production. In addition, the decline in dairy reproductive performance may be due to a hampered process of metabolic adaptation. Adaptation to the negative energy balance is a gradual process. The use of risk factors is more appropriate and discussed. Among them are the body condition score and its derivatives, feed intake, the calculated negative energy balance, and metabolic parameters like the plasma concentration of insulin or the triacylglycerol content in the liver. Moreover, factors that play a role in the link between declined reproductive performance and the metabolic situation of the cow during lactating are discussed.
Highlights
High-yielding dairy cows are typically in a state of negative energy balance (NEB) during early lactation period because the amount of energy required for the maintenance of body tissue functions and milk production exceeds that the cows can consume [1]
Mobilization of body energy reserves during the early lactation enables the cow to close the gap between the alimentary energy intake and its loss through the milk production [2]
body condition score (BCS) shows the decreasing trend during early lactation due to homeorhetic response caused by negative energy balance and partitioning of energy reserves to support milk production
Summary
High-yielding dairy cows are typically in a state of negative energy balance (NEB) during early lactation period because the amount of energy required for the maintenance of body tissue functions and milk production exceeds that the cows can consume [1]. Since the alterations in energy reserves have a considerable influence upon the productivity, health, and reproduction of dairy cows [3, 4], the monitorization of optimal management of energy reserves is obviously. Indicators, which characterize dairy cows metabolic processes, are body condition score (BCS) and live weight (LW). Body condition scoring has been widely recommended as a method of evaluating nutritional management of the dairy cows [5]. BCS shows the decreasing trend during early lactation due to homeorhetic response caused by negative energy balance and partitioning of energy reserves to support milk production. Excessive loss of energy during this period, generally in cows with higher/lower BCS at calving, results in productive, reproductive, and metabolic disorders in dairy cows. Once the cow recovers from negative energy balance, it starts gaining BCS during mid- and late lactation [7]
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