Abstract
The main objective of this study was to test the efficiency of a management system combining metabolic clustering of cows based on Fourier-transform mid-infrared (FT-MIR) spectra of milk and targeted treatment of metabolically imbalanced cows with propylene glycol drench. We hypothesized that cows identified in a metabolically imbalanced status during early lactation were associated with subsequent impaired health, reproduction, and production, and that treatment with propylene glycol treatment would improve health, reproduction, and production relatively more in these cows than in control cows. We completed a prospective, randomized controlled trial with 356 early-lactation cows in 2 private dairy herds in Denmark from December 2017 to April 2018. Milk samples of cows were collected before treatment, from 4 to 9 d in milk, and after treatment, from 22 to 27 d in milk. Milk samples were analyzed using FT-MIR spectroscopy. We also measured 4 milk metabolites (β-hydroxybutyrate, isocitrate, malate, and glutamate) and fat and protein contents. Based on FT-MIR spectra and cluster analyses, cows were clustered into groups of metabolically imbalanced and healthy cows. Within each group, cows were allocated randomly to treatment with propylene glycol (500 mL for 5 d) or no treatment. We analyzed the effect of the treatment on cow-level variables: metabolic cluster, milk metabolites, fat and protein contents, and fat-to-protein ratio at a milk sampling after the treatment. Furthermore, we analyzed daily milk yield, calving to first service interval, and disease occurrence. Results showed only a few effects of propylene glycol treatment and few interactions between treatment and metabolic clusters. We found no significant main effects of propylene glycol treatment in any of these analyses. A negative effect of the imbalanced metabolic cluster was found for the outcome of calving to first service interval for multiparous cows. In conclusion, we found a longer calving to first service interval in metabolically imbalanced cows, but we were not able to demonstrate overall benefits from the applied detection of cows in imbalanced metabolic status in early lactation and follow-up by treatment with propylene glycol.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1831-1842 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Journal of Dairy Science |
| Volume | 103 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| Early online date | 19 Dec 2019 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Feb 2020 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:We thank and acknowledge the owners and the staff of the two study farms, who assisted in the conduct of the study activities. We also thank Clément Grelet (Walloon Agricultural Research Center, Gembloux, Belgium) for cluster analyses, and Martin Bjerring (Aarhus University, Department of Animal Science, Tjele, Denmark) for data handling. This project received funding from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development, and demonstration under grant agreement no. 613689. The views expressed in this publication are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission. The authors have not stated any conflicts of interest.
Funding Information:
We thank and acknowledge the owners and the staff of the two study farms, who assisted in the conduct of the study activities. We also thank Cl?ment Grelet (Walloon Agricultural Research Center, Gembloux, Belgium) for cluster analyses, and Martin Bjerring (Aarhus University, Department of Animal Science, Tjele, Denmark) for data handling. This project received funding from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development, and demonstration under grant agreement no. 613689. The views expressed in this publication are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission. The authors have not stated any conflicts of interest.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 American Dairy Science Association
Funding
We thank and acknowledge the owners and the staff of the two study farms, who assisted in the conduct of the study activities. We also thank Clément Grelet (Walloon Agricultural Research Center, Gembloux, Belgium) for cluster analyses, and Martin Bjerring (Aarhus University, Department of Animal Science, Tjele, Denmark) for data handling. This project received funding from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development, and demonstration under grant agreement no. 613689. The views expressed in this publication are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission. The authors have not stated any conflicts of interest. We thank and acknowledge the owners and the staff of the two study farms, who assisted in the conduct of the study activities. We also thank Cl?ment Grelet (Walloon Agricultural Research Center, Gembloux, Belgium) for cluster analyses, and Martin Bjerring (Aarhus University, Department of Animal Science, Tjele, Denmark) for data handling. This project received funding from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development, and demonstration under grant agreement no. 613689. The views expressed in this publication are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission. The authors have not stated any conflicts of interest.
Keywords
- dairy cow
- milk biomarker
- physiological and metabolic imbalance
- propylene glycol