Summary
Periparturient disease conditions affecting transition dairy cows have been recognized
as a critical contributor to impaired dairy performance and have become a focal point
of herd diagnostic investigations. Over the past 40 years use of blood sampling in
the form of metabolic profi - ling has been applied to herd diagnostics with mixed
impressions of diagnostic robustness. Research has greatly increased our understan
- ding of underpinning mechanisms related to cow biology, ma nagement, environment
and their interactions responsible for per ipartum diseases. Elevated β-hydroxybutyrate
(BHB) concentration (> 1.2 mmol/l) within 7–10 days following calving identifies high
risk cows for therapeutic intervention. Herd evaluations with 15–25% of first week
fresh cows with elevated BHB indicates significant disease risk and productive losses.
Elevated peripartal serum nonesterified fatty acids (NEFA) also indicate increased
disease risk. This review discusses documented (BHB, NEFA) and other potential analytes
using individual or pooled samples useful for disease risk assessment or nutritional
status and their application in risk-based or herd screening methods of herd metabolic
profiling diagnostics. A pooled sample approach modified from the original Compton
Metabolic Profile allows for more economic assessment of multiple analytes, though
interpretation and herd-size application may be limited. Pooled samples between 5
and 10 individuals accurately represent arithmetic means of individuals. Most importantly
metabolic profiles must be used in concert with other diagnostic metrics of animal
and facility evaluations, body condition scoring and ration evaluation to be fully
useful in herd evaluations.
Keywords
Transition cow - metabolic profile - herd diagnostics - metabolic disease
