A randomized field trial assessing the timing of postpartum calcium bolus administration on milk yield of multiparous Holstein cows

Abstract

Recent studies have shown that cows with subclinical hypocalcemia (SCH) at 4 d in milk (DIM), regardless of their blood Ca concentration before that time point, suffer from an increased early-lactation disease risk and reduced milk yield, whereas cows experiencing a transient reduction in blood Ca that regain normocalcemia by 4 DIM are at a reduced risk of disease and have greater milk yields. With a goal of improving outcomes for dyscalcemic cows with SCH at 4 DIM, our primary objective was to assess the effect of a herd-level oral Ca bolus strategy that delayed supplementation to 24 and 48 h postpartum on productive performance of multiparous Holstein cows. Our secondary objectives were to assess the effects of delayed Ca bolus supplementation on blood Ca concentration, disease incidence within 30 DIM, and pregnancy risk to first service. At calving, multiparous cows on a single commercial dairy farm in Iran were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 treatment groups: (1) control, no Ca bolus administration (CON; n = 95); (2) traditional bolus, one Ca bolus administered immediately following calving and a second Ca bolus administered 24 h after calving (TRD, n = 102); or (3) experimental bolus, one Ca bolus administered 24 h after calving with a second Ca bolus administered 48 h after calving (EXP, n = 99). Blood samples were collected at 0, 24, 48, 72, and 96 h, and 7 d after parturition, with sampling occurring before bolus administration for the TRD (0 and 24 h) and EXP (24 and 48 h) groups. A general linear mixed model was created to analyze the change milk yield over the first 4 monthly tests and serum Ca concentrations over 7 DIM. Given the lack of disease events diagnosed within 30 DIM, no statistical analysis was conducted for this outcome. The effect of treatment group on risk of pregnancy to first service was assessed using Poisson regression. The incidence of dyscalcemia within CON cows was 72%. We found no difference in mean monthly milk yield among treatment groups across the first 4 tests, with an average monthly production of 51.8 ± 8.8 kg/d for CON cows, 52.5 ± 8.7 kg/d for TRD cows, and 51.8 ± 8.7 kg/d for EXP cows. Mean blood Ca concentration also did not differ across 7 DIM among treatment groups and was 2.04 mmol/L [95% confidence interval (CI) = 2.00 to 2.07 mmol/L] for CON cows, 2.06 mmol/L (95% CI = 2.03 to 2.09 mmol/L) for TRD cows, and 2.09 mmol/L (95% CI = 2.05 to 2.12 mmol/L) for EXP cows. The risk of pregnancy to first service was numerically greater for CON than TRD and EXP cows but not statistically different; however, our study was underpowered for this outcome. Under the conditions of our study, our findings suggest that delaying oral Ca bolus supplementation to 24 and 48 h postpartum has no effect on milk production across the first 4 monthly tests.