Clinical ketosis and standing behavior in transition cows

Ketosis is a common disease in dairy cattle, especially in the days after calving, and it is often undiagnosed. The objective of this study was to compare the standing behavior of dairy cows with and without ketosis during the days around calving to determine if changes in this behavior could be useful in the early identification of sick cows. Serum β-hydroxybutyrate (BHBA) was measured in 184 cows on a commercial dairy farm twice weekly from 2 to 21 d after calving. Standing behavior was measured from 7 d before calving to 21 d after calving using data loggers. Retrospectively, 15 cows with clinical ketosis (3 consecutive BHBA samples >1.2 mmol/L and at least one sample of BHBA >2.9 mmol/L) were matched with 15 nonketotic cows (BHBA <1.2 mmol/L). Five periods were defined for the statistical analyses: wk −1 (d −7 to −1), d 0 (day of calving), wk +1 (d 1 to 7), wk +2 (d 8 to 14), and wk +3 (d 15 to 21). The first signs of clinical ketosis occurred 4.5 ± 2.1 d after calving. Total daily standing time was longer for clinically ketotic cows compared with nonketotic cows during wk −1 (14.3 ± 0.6 vs. 12.0 ± 0.7 h/d) and on d 0 (17.2 ± 0.9 vs. 12.7 ± 0.9 h/d) but did not differ during the other periods. Clinically ketotic cows exhibited fewer standing bouts compared with nonketotic cows on d 0 only (14.6 ± 1.9 vs. 20.9 ± 1.8 bouts/d). Average standing bout duration was also longer for clinically ketotic cows on d 0 compared with nonketotic cows [71.3 min/bout (CI: 59.3 to 85.5) vs. 35.8 min/bout (CI: 29.8 to 42.9)] but was not different during the other periods. Differences in standing behavior in the week before and on the day of calving may be useful for the early detection of clinical ketosis in dairy cows.