TRANSIENT POSTPARTURIENT HYPOCALCEMIA: A CRITICAL PHENOMENON OF HIGH-PRODUCING DAIRY COWS

Our overarching goal is to assist dairy producers and their management teams in creating optimal management and nutritional recommendations that improve long-term health and milk production of dairy cows, resulting in benefits toindividual cow health and welfare as well as the economic viability of dairy farms. Our project goalis to understand the complex interaction of periparturient calcium dynamics, dry matter intake, and milk production with mammary physiology and immune activation to improveour support of dairy cows through early lactation. To accomplish this goal, we aim to accomplish the following objectives:Determine the contribution of the mammary gland to postpartum calcium dynamics and its interaction with the inflammatory response.Determine the temporal association of periparturient dry matter intake and inflammation and immune activation with postpartum calcium status and milk production.