A field study on prevention of subclinical hypocalcemia in dairy cows supplemented synthetic aluminums silicate or anionic salts in late pregnancy

Published: July 19, 2018

By: P. Theilgaard*, M. Jakobsen**; *Vilofoss, Denmark, **Protekta Inc., Lucknow, Ontario, Canada

Objective:

The objective was to compare Ca serum concentration and frequency of severe [Ca < 2.0 mmol/L] and moderate [Ca < 2.125 mmol/L] subclinical hypocalcemia (SCH) in cows supplemented according to the Dietary Cation Anion Differences (DCAD) principles or with synthetic zeolite.

Materials and methods:

The trials were performed in two large commercial farms in US and blood samples were taken within the first 24 hours after calving.
The test consisted in comparing plasma Ca concentration when the farms were using DCAD management for preventing hypocalcemia (in Farm 1 at -14.7 mEq/100 g DM (full DCAD) and in Farm 2 at 0.62 mEq/100 g DM (partial DCAD)) with the plasma Ca concentration levels when synthetic aluminum silicate was supplemented by using the commercial product X-Zelit (Protekta Inc/Vilofoss, Graasten, DK).
The differences in the plasma calcium concentrations between treatments were tested within farms with ANOVA using the lm procedure in the R package. Fisher’s exact test was used to assess differences in incidences of SCH.

Results:

The plasma calcium concentration was significantly (P < 0.001) higher in the X-Zelit group compared to the DCAD group on both farms (Table 1).

A field study on prevention of subclinical hypocalcemia in dairy cows supplemented synthetic aluminums silicate or anionic salts in late pregnancy - Image 1

The frequency of animals having severe SCH [Ca < 2.0 mmol/L] and moderate SCH [Ca < 2.125 mmol/L] was higher for the DCAD group compared to the X-Zelit group in both farms (Figure 1).

Implications:

The average plasma calcium where higher in the X-Zelit group compared with the DCAD group.
The results show a lower SCH frequency using X-Zelit compared to DCAD feeding.
Results suggest that X-Zelit could be an efficient alternative to DCAD feeding for preventing SCH

The full poster is available here

Vilofoss presented the X-Zelit posters at the ADSA Meeting 2018

Content from the event: