Physiological and metabolic changes during the transition period and the use of calcium propionate for prevention or treatment of hypocalcemia and ketosis in periparturient cows

Abstract

The transition from late gestation to early lactation is regarded as the most critical period of the production cycle in dairy cows. Most of metabolic disorders and infectious diseases occur during the transition period because of metabolic and physiological changes, metabolic stress of pregnancy, calving and lactation, a sudden and marked increase of nutrient requirements for milk production and a lack of dry matter intake. Milk fever, subclinical hypocalcemia, ketosis, fatty liver syndrome, retained fetal membranes, metritis, mastitis and displaced abomasum primarily affect dairy cows during this period. Calcium propionate, as a source of both calcium and energy, has been used for preventing or treating hypocalcemia and ketosis in dairy cows. In this review, different administration ways of calcium propionate in transition dairy cows were summarized and efficacy of calcium propionate in prevention or treatment of metabolic disorders was evaluated.