Hyperketonemia Predictions Provide an On-Farm Management Tool with Epidemiological Insights

Area of Science:

• Veterinary Medicine
• Animal Science
• Dairy Production

Background:

• Hyperketonemia (HYK) is a significant postpartum metabolic disorder in dairy cows.
• Early detection and monitoring of HYK are crucial for herd health and productivity.
• Routine milk analysis offers a high-throughput method for HYK assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the associations between predicted hyperketonemia (pHYK) and various production parameters in dairy cows.
• To identify novel risk factors and outcomes related to HYK using routine milk analysis data.
• To understand the relationship between herd-level milk yield and HYK prevalence.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of a large dataset comprising 240,714 lactations from 335 dairy farms.
• Utilized multiple linear regression models to determine HYK status based on cow and milk data.
• Focused on routine milk analysis samples, without soliciting specific HYK or disease treatment data.

Main Results:

• Predicted HYK (pHYK) cows exhibited longer dry periods, higher somatic cell counts (SCC), and more instances of dystocia.
• pHYK cows produced less milk and lower protein percentages but had higher milk fat, including mixed and preformed fatty acids (FA).
• Increased culling rates, days open, and artificial inseminations were observed in pHYK cows; herd HYK prevalence decreased with higher rolling herd average milk yield.

Conclusions:

• Confirmed established risk factors and negative consequences of HYK, such as increased SCC and dystocia.
• Identified novel associations between pHYK and differential SCC, mixed FA, and preformed FA.
• Demonstrated an inverse relationship between herd milk production levels and hyperketonemia prevalence, suggesting management or genetic factors in high-producing herds.