While acknowledging the importance of reducing the nutritional intake of potassium (K+)  (Goff  et al. 2004), it is nonetheless necessary to have a solution at hand that can be used whenever an excess intake of K+ is NOT solely manageable through fodder choice.

When managing the TRANSITION phase, nutritionists’ aim to restrict potassium intake during the close up stage. It is clear however, to all those managing dairy cowsheds, that the most suitable fodder choice to achieve this objective poses serious problems.

In order to correctly calculate DCAD as a ratio, it is necessary to know the total amount of K+ ingested by cows, and unfortunately the specialized software is unable to calculate it directly due to widely fluctuating levels of calcium present in fodder that are considered poor in K+ (e.g. corn silage  or straw). These types of fodder are often included in the ratio with the aim of reducing the overall intake administered.

WHAT IS THE CORRECT APPROACH TO RESTRICTING POTASSIUM INTAKE DURING THE CLOSE UP PHASE AND REDUCING HYPOCALCEMIA?

• Not relying on potassium values emanating from traditional bibliographical sources
• Choosing the easiest to analyze substrate
• Selecting the most accurate method
• Cross-validating software data with that provided by urinary analyses

GRANDA TEAM’S RESPONSE USING THE TRANSITION 4.0 PROTOCOL

CAPTURING EXCESS POTASSIUM

K+ (as well as calcium) can be captured by supplying and administering the correct dosage of aluminosilicates.
To do this, you need a biological substrate indicator that can determine total potassium ingested and precisely determine much K+ needs to be captured; note that for this purpose the hematic value is irrelevant given that large quantities of minerals are excreted through the urine in order to maintain the narrow value ranges of homeostasis.

Granda Team’s CATION REM  solution is able to render a portion of potassium non-absorbable.

In fact, testing has established that CATION REM, when inserted into CLOSE UP rations, 15 days prior to calving, allows potassium absorption levels equal to 50% of total intake present in the ration.

ANIONIC STRATEGY

A balanced and protracted anion strategy using the DCADD solution which has both a neutral effect on palatability of the final product and doesn’t interfere with the ingestion capacity of Dry Matter.

Rumen health is crucial for dairy cattle. Finding the right balance of this varied “condominium” should never be far from sight in terms of efficiency and more importantly intrinsic pathogenicity.

It is therefore very important to dedicate attention to how rumen adapt to lactation ration by taking advantage of information emanating from various studies on this aspect which highlight the importance of avoiding sudden variations in dry, close-up and postpartum diet.

Therefore, the close-up formulation ration needs to follow specific prescriptions and targeted concentrations of energy, protein and minerals. Unfortunately, this is not always possible and non-compliance of this necessity is responsible for considerable problems.

The reasons as to why incorrect and unsuitable dietary rations are often administered can be manifold ranging from company size, absence of a prepartum group, lack of staff and even owners’ inattentiveness. The subsequent effect is the emergence of pathological conditions in the postpartum period; such conditions can reduce production levels and reproductive performance.

GRANDA TEAM’S RESPONSE WITH THE TRANSITION 4.0 PROTOCOL

It is fundamental to pay particular attention to LPS (Lipopolysaccharide Membranes) which are classed as metabolites at the top of xenobiotic toxicity chart (micrograms/ml) and produce proteins in the acute phase that then go on to provoke both acute and chronic effects.

It is therefore crucial to reduce the negative effects of LPS and prevent them from entering the circulatory system; this is important regardless of the prepartum management style adopted and the inevitable variations naturally taking place in a ruminal ecosystem during this phase. The TOX REM solution is the perfect product as it contains specific LPS deactivators that can achieve this objective.

In fact, TOX REM’s action works independently of circulating endotoxin levels making it effective even when concentration levels are high.

Granda Team’s TOX REM solution effectively achieves LPS inactivation at both local and systemic levels, thereby averting the harmful consequences of systemic inflammation (vasodilatation, fever, peripheral shock, loss of appetite). In addition, there is also the risk of impaired normal pre-stomach activity that is already put to the test in the postpartum period as a result of significant variations occurring in the ration.

In recent years scientific knowledge surrounding cattle hypo fertility issues  have experienced a radical about turn.

Through studying cows’ ovarian cycles, it has been proven that the development of a fertile follicle is dependent on two metabolically related factors:

–the concentration of progesterone in the blood

–reducing systemic inflammation present in the postpartum phase, especially in summer (also known as “heat  stress”).

The concentration of the fertility hormone (progesterone) and the quantification of inflammatory stress are, therefore, the two key factors to be analyzed in the fight against bovine hypo fertility, especially in the presence of “stressogenic” factors that negatively impact the formation of a new pregnancy (heat stress, mycotoxins, etc..

MORE PROGESTERONE… YES PLEASE!!

“Progesterone is essential to a normal reproductive cycle because it inhibits estrous and controls follicle growth. However, some high-yielding dairy cows have important circulatory progesterone deficiencies.”

Penn State University

“Circulating P4 concentrations represent the balance between P4 production and P4 metabolism; P4 metabolism is principally related to the quantity of blood flow to the liver due to an excess of enzymes that mediate P4 metabolism.”

M.C.Wiltbank, A.H.Souza, P.D. Carvalho, A.P.Cunha, J.O.Giordano, P.M.Fricke, G.M.Baez and M.G. Diskin,  2014

LESS INFLAMMATION… YES PLEASE!!

INFLAMMATION and FERTILITY: a difficult relationship 

• Reduced production of FSH and LH hormones (less follicular development and absence of ovulation)
• Luteolytic action of prostaglandins: reduced blood progesterone levels and embryonic mortality
• Uterine action: glandular epithelium reduction: > embryonic reabsorption

Correlation between Hp in peripartum and subsequent ovulation

GRANDA TEAM ANSWER ON FERTILITY MANAGEMENT