Prevention of transition period pathologies in dry cows during the late dry period

Metabolic disorders during the transition period are a major cause of persistent reductions in milk productivity, prolonged infertility in cows, and decreased efficiency of agricultural enterprises. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of obstetric-gynecological pathologies and metabolic disorders in cows during the transition period and to develop and compare preventive methods. The study involved Holstein cows aged 3 to 7 years with an average milk yield of 8,000 kg. The effectiveness of different preventive approaches against metabolic disorders was evaluated using three experimental groups of cows. Cows in the first group received the cation-anion feed additive Vitamas at a dose of 200.0 g per animal daily for 60 days. Cows in the second experimental group were supplemented with the feed additive Ligoferm at a dose of 60 g per cow. Animals in the third experimental group received both Vitamas (200.0 g) and Ligoferm (60 g per cow per day) for 60 days. Infertility was diagnosed in cows and consisted of symptomatic infertility (35.19 %), nutritional infertility (31.10 %), and immune-mediated infertility (28.14 %). In cases of nutritional infertility, decreased concentrations of carotene (240.64 ± 16.22 μg/100 mL), total calcium (7.53 ± 1.22 mg/100 mL), phosphorus (3.65 ± 0.34 mg/100 mL), magnesium (1.87 ± 0.16 mg/100 mL), zinc (83.24 ± 2.29 μg/100 mL), copper (73.64 ± 5.87 μg/100 mL), and manganese (5.21 ± 0.98 pg/mL) were detected. The prevalence of calving disorders was 14.77 %, postpartum pathologies 21.59 %, infertility 23.30 %, and ketosis 39.21 %. The use of feed additives based on rumen-protected methionine, a mixture of anionic salts, and cation carbonates/hydroxides reduced the incidence of calving disorders by 12.10 %, postpartum pathologies by 11.86 %, infertility by 20.63 %, and ketosis by 29.88 % in transition cows. The effectiveness of feed additives containing rumen-protected methionine, anionic salts, and cation carbonates/hydroxides for the prevention of infertility, calving disorders, postpartum diseases, and ketosis during the transition period was confirmed. An increase in serum carotene and consequently vitamin A concentrations to reference values was observed following supplementation with rumen-protected methionine (Group 1) and the cation-anion additive (Group 2), whereas deficiencies of these parameters persisted in the control groups. In addition, cows in the experimental group exhibited a total calcium concentration of 7.53 ± 1.22 mg/100 mL, indicating a substantial deficiency of this element. Following supplementation, total blood calcium concentrations increased by 22.31 % in Group 1, by 36.12 % in Group 2, and by 50.33 % in Group 3.