The Ruminal Acidosis’s effect over the Milk production in dairy Cows

Abstract

The ruminal acidosis is a decrease in the ruminal pH by the accumulation of acidic metabolites at this level. As a result, the proportion of ruminal volatile fatty acids and glycaemia changes with immediate repercussions on the milk production. Of the total ruminant-reticular indigestions diagnosed in a lot of 370 cows, 37.9% were represented by ruminal acidosis. Out of these, most of the cases (90.9%) had a subacute evolution, which implies difficulties of diagnosis under farm conditions. On the other hand, the amount of milk was, on average, smaller with 1.7 liters in cows with ruminal acidosis compared to the clinically healthy cows. Milk fat decreased from 3.8% to 2.8% in sick cows, by an average of 1% and had a coefficient of variation of individual values almost double compared to the values obtained in clinically healthy cows. This shows the direct implication of ruminal acidosis over milk production. Appart of ruminal paresis and indigestion, milk production’s impairment is an important clinical sign in most of the dairy cows with ruminal acidosis.