This study evaluated whether differences in milk fever incidence among Swedish dairy herds could be explained partly by differences in mineral feeding during the last weeks of gestation. A case-control study was performed on dietary risk factors for a high incidence of milk fever at the herd level using information regarding feeding and management of the dry cows collected in a written question...

MILK FEVER, also called parturient paresis and parturient hypocalcemia, is an aifection of cows occurring shortly after calving. It is characterized by paralysis of the motor and sensory nervous apparatus. Despite its name, milk fever usually is not accompanied by fever. There is always, however, a marked and rapid lowering of the blood calcium, so that the name "parturient hypocalcemia," which...

The periparturient cow undergoes a transition from non-lactating to lactating at calving. The animal is tremendously challenged to maintain calcium homeostasis. Those that fail can develop milk fever, a clinical disorder that is life threatening to the cow and predisposes the animal to a variety of other disorders. Guidelines for monitoring the incidence of hypocalcemia and methods for treating...

Urine pH was monitored on a large Midwest dairy, where 161 multiparous cows received CLOSE-UP PELLET as part of their pre-fresh ration (Technical Service Bulletin #308). Pre-calving urine pH among the 8 mature cows treated for milk fever averaged 7.51, while mean urine pH among the 153 other cows was 7.61. At 5.0%, the incidence rate of milk fever was low for multiparous cows. A typical milk fe...

introduction Milk fever and subclinical hypocalcaemia (total blood calcium ≤2.0 mmol/l) are the most important macromineral disorders that affect transition dairy cows. It is important to realise, that of all the production diseases experienced by dairy cattle, milk fever is related to the occurrence of many other problems, the timing of which would suggest that milk fever was at least one (if ...

Both clinical and subclinical deficiency of calcium and magnesium may cause problems in dairy cows. Clinical hypocalcaemia most commonly occurs at calving and onset of lactation and is associated with milk fever, while clinical hypomagnesaemia occurs under certain dietary conditions. Factors affecting the calcium and magnesium status in dairy cows were examined in this thesis. The effect of die...

Most dairy cows experience some degree of hypocalcemia during the periparturient period. There is, however, a sub-group of dairy cows that experience a breakdown in their ability to maintain plasma calcium and, consequently, suffer from severe hypocalcemia. This condition is also known as milk fever and usually occurs in cows in their third or greater lactation. The precise metabolic lesions re...