Ketosis is a metabolic disorder which
usually occurs in dairy cattle during the early
lactation period when energy demands for the production
of milk exceed energy intake. This negative energy balance
results in the cow using her body fat as an energy source, leading
to an excessive accumulation of ketones in the blood as the fat is broken
down faster than the liver can process it. As a result of this, the symptoms of
ketosis occur.
The main causes of ketosis are nutritional imbalance and over conditioning in
late lactation, the dry period and around calving.
Ketosis impacts on the cow’s health and welfare as well as having financial
implications on farm. These direct costs include vet bills, labour costs, drugs,
discarded milk and reduced milk yield. Indirect costs of ketosis include increased
risk of other diseases and reproductive performance such as higher cases of
cystic ovaries, LDAs, retained foetal membranes and metritis. In the long term,
ketosis can lead to extended calvings (up to 22 days), a 20% increase in culling
rates, extra services for every conception and an increased risk of fatality.
When a cow mobilises her body fat to meet energy needs, a proportion of the
fatty acids are directly incorporated into milk fat, resulting in an increase in
percentage of fat in milk. As well as this, the percentage of protein in milk will
fall slightly in fresh cows because of a reduction in energy supply, making the
ratio of milk fat percentage to milk protein percentage a useful tool at
monitoring the prevalence of subclinical ketosis in your herd. Cows with a high
milk fat percentage and a low milk protein percentage may indicate a likelihood
of subclinical and clinical ketosis. On the other hand, cows with a low milk fat
percentage and a high milk protein percentage may indicate the likelihood
of acidosis.
Symptoms of
KETOSIS:
• Body condition
and weight loss
• Reduced milk
yield
• Reduced
appetite
• Acetone (pear
drop) smell on
breath or milk
• Some individuals
develop nervous
signs including
excessive
licking,
salivation
and staggering
(Nervous
Acetonaemia)
Using Your Herd to
help identify KETOSIS...
The imbalance of butterfat and protein levels in milk is
an early indicator of an imbalance in the feed regime.
CIS have incorporated a feature into “Your Herd”
which allows users to see the possible incidence of ketosis
in their herd by illustrating the ratio of butterfat and protein
at the last milk test. A graph is used to demonstrate this
feature in an easy-to-use format which clearly shows which
cows have a high possible incidence risk of ketosis. The
graph used here shows that there are 14.2% of animals in
the milking herd that are at risk of ketosis.
Each point on the graph represents one animal in the
herd. By hovering over the point the user is able to see
the Cow Number, Fat:Protein Ratio, Fat % and Protein %.
When the point is selected, an overview of the cow can be seen.
The area highlighted in green indicates the optimum Fat:Protein Ratio, or “safe zone.” Users can set their
own parameters for this area depending on how many days in milk they wish to see and on the ratio they
believe to be acceptable. Users are also able to select whether they wish to view all animals or just first calvers.
A table is used to
illustrate which cows are
at a high risk of getting
ketosis. The animals are
sorted by the highest
risk animal first. Users
are able to view more
information of the animals
by selecting the ear tag
number which will open
the Cow Overview.
Line
Ear Tag
No
Lact
Calved
Ratio
No
Yield
Protein
Fat
Kg
%
%
884
123456
2
12 Aug 2011
0.12
28.00
1.11
9.12
Possible
Ketosis
**********
761
223456
3
28 Oct 2012
0.22
12.40
1.87
8.32
Possible
Ketosis
********
768
323456
3
08 Nov 2010
0.29
38.80
2.23
7.68
Possible
Ketosis
*******
815
423456
2
30 Sep 2010
0.41
29.00
2.66
6.55
Possible
Ketosis
****
816
523456
2
31 Oct 2010
0.43
31.60
2.68
6.23
Possible
Ketosis
****
849
623456
2
27 Sep 2010
0.47
28.50
2.87
6.12
Possible
Ketosis
***
This feature can be found under Herd Health Reports
and Analysis in the Herd Management Menu of Your Herd.
For more information on how to use this service please
contact us or your area manager.