this study was conducted on 24 holstein cows in close-up period, in a split-plot in time design, with a 2×2 factoriel arrangement and in a completely randomized framework to evaluate the effect of pre and postpartum dietary cation-anion differences (dcad) on homeostasis of calcium, acid-base balance and the subsequent lactation performance. the first factor was prepartum dcad for which the anim...

High cation diets can cause milk fever in dairy cows as they induce a metabolic alkalosis reducing the ability of the cow to maintain calcium homeostasis at the onset of lactation. Adding anions to the diet can offset the effect of the high cation forages by inducing a mild metabolic acidosis, restoring the ability to maintain calcium homeostasis. The difference in mEq of dietary cations and an...

Subclinical hypocalcemia may affect half of all multiparous cows, and clinical hypocalcemia or milk fever affects approximately 5% of dairy cows each year. This disorder of calcium homeostasis can be induced by several dietary factors. Recent studies implicate high dietary potassium and high dietary cation-anion difference (DCAD) with increased risk of milk fever. The hypothesis tested in this ...

Dietary cation-anion difference (DCAD) has been a topic of considerable research in dairy cows nutrition for the last 2 decades (NRC, 2001). Much of the early work addressed effects of DCAD on periparturient Ca metabolism and metabolic health of transition dairy cows (NRC, 2001; Block, 1994). Over roughly the same period time, some but less research focused on the effects of DCAD on lactational...

Objective of this study was to determine the effects of varying dietary cation-anion differences (DCAD) in prepartum period on milk fever, subclinical hypocalcemia and negative energy balance in dairy cows of Urmia, Iran. Ninety nine Holstein cows assigned to three groups (n=33) were fed diets with DCAD of -24 (anionic), +80 (cationic) and +230 (cationic) mEq/Kg dry matter for 3 weeks before ex...

Dietary cation anion difference (DCAD) is an important aspect of dairy nutrition, especially in the transition period. Sahiwal cattle is the highest milk producing breed among Zebu cattle. We planned first study on transition Sahiwal cattle to determine the effects of feeding varying levels of negative DCAD. For this purpose, twenty pregnant cows (at the 250th day of gestation) were selected an...

Forty-five multiparous Holstein cows and 15 springing Holstein heifers were used in a randomized block design trial to determine the effect of length of feeding a negative dietary anion-cation difference (DCAD) diet prepartum on serum and urine metabolites, dry matter (DM) intake, and milk yield and composition. After training to eat through Calan doors (American Calan Inc., Northwood, NH), cow...