Avaliação da saúde no pós-parto de vacas de leite de alta produção tratadas com suplemento mineral injetável

Abstract

The transition period, which covers the three weeks before parturition and the three weeks after parturition, is considered critical for cows, potentially compromising their health. Parenteral mineral supplementation is an alternative to reduce the incidence of reproductive and health problems that affect cows during this phase, since minerals are necessary in several aspects in the animal organism. The objective of this work was to investigate the effects of the use of parenteral mineral supplementation on the incidence of diseases that affect high-yielding dairy cows in the postpartum period. 108 Holstein cows, primiparous and multiparous, with an average weight of 600 kg were used. These were blocked by milk production, parity and expected delivery date. They were allocated into one of two groups, control (CONT, n=54) or supplemented (SUPL, n=54). The SUPL group received 10 ml of mineral supplement intramuscularly 30 (±15) days before the expected date of delivery, at delivery and 30 (±15) days after delivery, the CONT group did not receive supplementation. All animals in the experiment were submitted to a fixed-time artificial insemination (FTAI) protocol. Blood samples were collected, to obtain plasma, from a subgroup of 27 animals from each treatment, 30 (±15) days after parturition, on D0 and D7 of the FTAI protocol, to measure beta-hydroxybutyrate levels (BHB) and glucose. Data were processed using the statistical package Jmp Pro12 (SAS®). The mean somatic cell count (SCC) was lower (P=0.005) in the SUPL group (66.1x103) compared to the CONT (163.6 x103). Mean glucose concentration was similar (P=0.22) between SUPL (7.5) and CONT (7.6). The incidence of ketosis was similar (P=0.20) between SUPL (37.5%) and CONT (25.5%). The occurrence of retained placenta was similar (P=0.69) between SUPL (18.8%) and CONT (15.7%). Thus, CCS was the only parameter positively affected by mineral supplementation, contributing positively to milk quality, since there was a reduction in CCS, which can be recommended to increase the health of the mammary gland. However, there was no change in the incidence of the most common postpartum diseases.