Original scientific paper

Risk factors and prevalence of subclinical ketosis in dairy cows in Croatia

Silvio Vince orcid.org/0000-0003-0402-3173 ; Clinic for Obstetrics and Reproduction, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Dražen Đuričić ; Veterinary practice d.o.o., Đurđevac, Croatia
Hrvoje Valpotić ; Department for Nutrition and Animal Husbandry, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Damjan Gračner ; Clinic for Internal Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Ivan Folnožić ; Clinic for Obstetrics and Reproduction, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Branimira Špoljarić ; Clinic for Obstetrics and Reproduction, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Przemyslaw Sobiech ; Department for Internal Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Warmia-Mazury in Olsztyn, Olsztyn, Poland
Marko Samardžija ; Clinic for Obstetrics and Reproduction, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the risks or associations between the prevalence of subclinical ketosis (SCK) and some periparturient diseases in Holstein cows, by determining beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHBA) serum levels using a Precision Xceed® BHBA meter (Abbott, USA) or spectrophotometer, and to evaluate the reproductive performance of cows positive for SCK. The study was conducted on 841 cows, from 107 randomly selected farms, aged 2-8 years, divided into two groups: positive (POS = BHBA level≥1200 μmol/L), with clinical or SCK, and a negative (control) group (NEG = BHBA level<1200 μmol/L). Blood samples were collected from lactating cows in the period between 1-15 days after parturition. There was a positive correlation (r = 0.99; P<0.0001) between BHBA determined spectrophotometrically and by using Precision meter. The correlation between BHBA concentration and milk yield (total lactation) was not significant (r = 0.04; P = 0.26). The POS group of cows had a significantly higher mean lactation yield (P<0.001) than the NEG group of cows (7076 kg vs. 6409 kg). The cows in the NEG group had a significantly shorter period of median days open to pregnancy (MDOP) compared to the POS group (124 vs. 138; P<0.0001). The hazard ratio (HR) for days open to pregnancy (DOP) in the POS group of cows was 0.66 (P<0.0001). The results showed that multiparous cows had 1.41 times more chance of being affected with SCK than primiparous cows. The prevalence of SCK was 15.8% in Holstein cows from central, northern, northwestern and eastern parts of Croatia. About 55.6% of the cows with SCK were affected by some of the observed periparturient diseases (relative risk was 1.91; P = 0.001).

Keywords

beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHBA); subclinical ketosis; risk factor; cow

Hrčak ID:

178511

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/178511

Publication date:

15.1.2017.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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