Table 1.
Prevalence of disease in three groups of dairy cows
| Condition | Percentage affected per group | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| M (n = 40) | L (n = 52) | H (n = 64) | |
| Ketosis | 12.5 (5/40)a | 42.3 (22/52)b | 60.93 (39/64)b |
| Mastitis | 15 (6/40)a | 17.3 (9/52)a | 37.5 (24/64)b |
| Retained placenta | 7.5 (3/40)a | 9.62 (5/52)a | 34.38 (22/64)b |
| Milk fever | 2.5 (1/40) | 3.84 (2/52) | 6.25 (4/64) |
| Displaced abomasum | 0a | 1.92 (1/52) | 14.06 (9/64)b |
| Metritis | 5 (2/40)a | 13.46 (7/52) | 25 (16/64)b |
| Lameness | 10 (4/40) | 15.38 (8/52) | 15.63 (10/64) |
Fig. 1.
The change trend of body condition score (BCS) in the high-BCS-loss (H) group (n = 64), lost-BCS (L) group (n = 52) and maintained-BCS (M) group (n = 40) of experimental cows assessed for body condition score (BCS) a, b, c – different letters at the same time point indicate significant differences between groups (P-value < 0.05); T – time effect; G – between-group effect; G × T – inter-group interaction with time; error bars – standard error
Fig. 2.
Levels of plasma β-hydroxybutyrate (BHB, A), non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA, B), glucose (C) and total cholesterol (TC, D) in the high-BCS-loss (H) group (n = 64), lost-BCS (L) group (n = 52) and maintained-BCS (M) group (n = 40) of experimental cows assessed for body condition score (BCS)
a, b, c – different letters at the same time point indicate significant differences between groups (P-value < 0.05); T – time effect; G – between-group effect; G × T – inter-group interaction with time; error bars – standard error
Fig. 3.
Levels of plasma aspartate aminotransferase (AST, A), total bilirubin (TBIL, B), albumin (C) and urea nitrogen (UN, D) in the high-BCS-loss (H) group (n = 64), lost-BCS (L) group (n = 52), and maintained-BCS (M) group (n = 40) of experimental cows assessed for body condition score (BCS)
a, b – different letters at the same time point indicate significant differences between groups (P-value < 0.05); T – time effect; G – between-group effect; G × T – inter-group interaction with time; error bars – standard error
Fig. 4.
Levels of plasma total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC, A) and malondialdehyde (MDA, B) in the high-BCS-loss (H) group (n = 64), lost-BCS (L) group (n = 52), and maintained-BCS (M) group (n = 40) of experimental cows assessed for body condition score (BCS)
a, b – different letters at the same time point indicate significant differences between groups (P < 0.05); T – time effect; G – between-group effect; G × T – inter-group interaction with time; error bars – standard error
Fig. 5.
Levels of plasma insulin (A) and leptin (B) in the high-BCS-loss (H) group (n = 64), lost-BCS (L) group (n = 52), and maintained-BCS (M) group (n = 40) of experimental cows assessed for body condition score (BCS)
a, b – different letters at the same time point indicate significant differences between groups (P-value < 0.05); T – time effect; G – between-group effect; G × T – inter-group interaction with time; error bars – standard error
Fig. 6.
Levels of plasma calcium (A), phosphorus (B), magnesium (C), and potassium (D) in the high-BCS-loss (H) group (n = 64), lost-BCS (L) group (n = 52), and maintained-BCS (M) group (n = 40) of experimental cows assessed for body condition score (BCS) T – time effect; G – between-group effect; G × T – inter-group interaction with time; error bars – standard error
Fig. 7.
Trend of daily milk yield in the high-BCS-loss (H) group (n = 64), lost-BCS (L) group (n = 52), and maintained-BCS (M) group (n = 40) of experimental cows assessed for body condition score (BCS)
a, b – different letters at the same time point indicate significant differences between groups (P-value < 0.05); T – time effect; G – between-group effect; G × T – inter-group interaction with time; error bars – standard error