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Epidemiology of Parturient Paresis: Predisposing Factors with Emphasis on Dry Cow Feeding and Management¹

Department of Preventive Medicine, New York State College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University

C. J. Sniffen and R. D. Smith

Department of Animal Science, New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853

² Reprint requests.

ABSTRACT

Dry cow feeding and management were examined for predisposing factors for parturient paresis in 1,983 Holstein cows from New York Dairy Herd Improvement Cooperative records, monthly technician visits to 31 farms, and questionnaires. Variables were estimated transmitting ability, season of calving, lactation number, parturient paresis, estimated potential hours per day of exercise, and estimated nutrient intakes (protein, calcium, phosphorus, and energy) during the preceding dry period.

Nutrient intakes were estimated by farmers for the average dry cow (season dependent) in their herd for the early (3 wk prepartum) and late portions of the dry period. Intakes were percentages of National Research Council requirements for a 550 kg dry cow in the last 2 mo of gestation. Nutrient intakes were coded by ranking the herds by percentage of each requirement. Codes represented the approximate lower third, middle third, and top third of the herds. Individual cows were assigned their herd nutrition codes by their season of calving. For stepwise discriminant analysis, the group variable was parturient paresis (94 cases, 1,889 controls). As lactation number (most important) and estimated transmitting ability (second most important) increased, incidence of parturient paresis increased.

Parturient paresis was reduced with high dietary protein fed during the early stage of the dry period, with low phosphorus and high energy (lead feeding) closer to calving, and with decreased opportunity for exercise. Most cows were overfed calcium, especially in the late stage of the dry period, but calcium intake was not important when phosphorus was low.

¹ Supported by Research Grant No. 59-2361-0-2-0730-0 from the United States Department of Agriculture.