RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE DIET OF DAIRY-COWS DURING THE DRY PERIOD AND THE INCIDENCE OF METABOLIC DISEASES AFTER CALVING

The metabolic diseases impose a heavy financial burden on dairy farms by the sharp reduction in milk yield, by reproductive problems and the costs of treatment that they cause. A work was carried out on a commercial herd to study the relationship between the diet of dairy cows during the dry period and the incidence of metabolic disorders after calving. A total of 36 Holstein cows were divided into 3 groups comparable in mean age and average genetic level but receiving different roughages (corn silage; pre-wilted grass silage and hay; grass and hay). The incidence of metabolic diseases in the group with corn silage included the following: Ketosis 5/12; milk fever 4/12 and displaced abomasum 2/12. The cows of the two other groups did not suffer any metabolic disturbance in early lactation.