Relationships among nutritional regimen, metabolic disorders, reproduction, and production in dairy cows during the transition period

Cardoso, Felipe

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/34232 Copy

Description

Title

Relationships among nutritional regimen, metabolic disorders, reproduction, and production in dairy cows during the transition period

Author(s)

Cardoso, Felipe

Issue Date

2012-09-18T21:07:03Z

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Drackley, James K.

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Drackley, James K.

Committee Member(s)

• Murphy, Michael R.
• Wallace, Richard L.
• Hutjens, Michael F.
• Nakamura, Manabu T.

Department of Study

Animal Sciences

Discipline

Animal Sciences

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

• periparturient cow
• energy intake
• days to conception
• reproductive performance
• principal component

Abstract

Negative energy balance (NEB) during the first weeks postpartum is associated with infertility in dairy cows. A meta-analysis approach was used to investigate the association between prepartum energy feeding regimen, productive parameters, health, and reproductive performance. Days to conception (DTC) was used as the dependent variable to assess reproductive performance. The database was developed from 7 experiments completed in our group from 1993 to 2010. Individual data for 408 cows (354 multiparous and 54 primiparous) were included in the analysis. The net energy for lactation (NEL) intake was determined from each cow’s average dry matter intake (DMI) and calculated dietary NEL density. Treatments were applied prepartum and were classified as either controlled energy (CE) or high energy (HE) diets fed during the far-off (FO) or close-up (CU) dry periods. Cow was the experimental unit. All analyses were carried out using SAS 9.2 (SAS Institute, Inc.). The Cox proportional hazard model revealed a significant difference in DTC between HE and CE during the CU period (median = 167 and 157 d; hazard ratio (HR) = 0.696). Cows fed HE diets during the last 4 wk prepartum lost more body condition score (BCS) in the first 6 wk postpartum than those fed CE (−0.43 and −0.30, respectively). Cows with 3 or more lactations lost more BCS than cows with one or two lactations (−0.42 and −0.33, respectively). Cows fed CE during the FO period had lower nonesterified fatty acids (NEFA) concentrations in wk 1, 2, and 3 of lactation compared with cows fed HE. Higher NEFA concentration in wk 1 postpartum was associated with a greater probability of diseases (n = 251; OR = 1.176). Cows on the CE regimen during the FO period had greater plasma glucose concentrations during wk 1 and 3 after calving than cows fed the HE regimen. Higher plasma glucose (HG) concentration compared with lower glucose (LG) in wk 3 (HG, n = 154; LG, n = 206) and wk 4 (HG, n = 71; LG, n = 254) after calving was associated with greater HR for DTC (wk 3: median = 151 and 171 d for HG and LG, HR = 1.334; wk 4: median = 148 and 167 d, HR = 1.394). In the first 2 wk after calving, cows that received HE in the FO period had higher concentrations of total lipids and triglyceride and greater ratio of triglyceride to glycogen in liver than did CE. There was no statistical difference for milk production in the first 4 wk postpartum between cows fed CE or HE prepartum. Cows fed HE during CU had greater milk fat concentration than cows fed CE on wk 2, 3, and 4. Cows fed HE during CU had higher protein concentration during wk 3 and 4 then cows fed CE. Cows that were fed HE during CU lost more body weight (BW) either as absolute value (kg) or as percentage loss during the first 6 wk postpartum (38.5 vs 19.7 kg, SEM 8.9, P = 0.01 and 5.6 vs 2.9 %, SEM 1.2, respectively). In addition, cows that were fed HE during the dry period had more odds of experiencing displaced abomasum or ketosis when compared to cows that received CE. Lastly, principal component (PC) analysis was conducted on 8 variables: glucose wk 3 (GLU3), glucose wk 4 (GLU4), β-hydroxybutyrate wk 1 (BHBA1), insulin wk 2 (INS2), nonesterified fatty acids wk −1 (NEFA-1), energy-corrected milk wk 4 (ECM4), fat corrected milk wk 4 (FCM4), and milk urea nitrogen wk 5 (MUN5). For linear regression analysis from PC, animals were classified in two groups based on first and fourth quartile values for DTC as high (slow; ≥ 174 d) or low (fast; < 87 d). Principal component scores were generated for each extracted PC. Four PC were extracted from the analysis, accounting for 79.63% of total variability. The PC loadings indicated that, for PC1, increased ECM4 and FCM4 were associated with decreased INS2, GLU3, and GLU4. Principal component 2 represented animals with higher NEFA-1 and BHBA1. Principal component C3 had higher values for ECM4, FCM4, GLU3, and GLU4; whereas, PC4 had higher values for MUN5. Regressing PCS of PC2 on PC1 indicated that the relation between these PC differed between diets. For increased values of PC1, HE cows had increased values of PC2; whereas, those fed CE showed decreased values of PC2. Inclusion of PC in a logistic model revealed that cows with high values of PC2 were associated with greater odds of being classified as slow (greater DTC) when compared to cows classified as fast (smaller DTC) [odds ratio (OR) = 2.257, 95%CI = 0.979 to 7.763]. Overall, prepartum nutrition was shown to have great impact on metabolic, production, and reproductive parameters of dairy cattle.

Graduation Semester

2012-08

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Copyright 2012 Felipe Cardoso

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