THE EFFECT OF VITAMIN H IN ASEPTIC LAMINITIS PREVENTION AND ITS IMPACT ON BLOOD INDICATORS IN DAIRY COWS

Avni Robaj, Driton Sylejmani, Afrim Hamidi, Nexhat Mazreku

Abstract: The Lameness Syndrome caused by aseptic laminitis is very common in dairy farm cows. In the period between July 2014 and July 2015, a study on laminitis occurrence was conducted in a dairy cow farm in Southwest Kosovo. For this purpose cows were separated in two groups, each group consisting of 30 Holstein cows in the period of early lactation in order to determine the impact of vitamin H on values of hematological and hemato-biochemical indicators and laminitis prevention. In the trial period, animals were treated with equal food rations with excessive rapidly fermentable foods. Animals in the experiment group were additionally fed with vitamin H supplement. Blood samples were analyzed every two weeks in a laboratory during the entire trial period. Blood samples from the cows in the study were collected to assess total protein content, creatinine, bilirubin, magnesium, phosphorus, calcium, leukocytes, and erythrocytes. The results were statistically processed. In the first group, 3 cows (10%) showed signs of Laminitis Syndrome and changes in the values of some of the indicators. Cows with laminitis showed decreased levels of Ca (7.30 ± 0.08 versus 8.78 ± 0.11 mg%), protein (6.61 ± 0.05 versus 7.24 ± 0.05 g%) and inorganic phosphorus (5.46 ± 0.05 versus 6.11 ± 0.11 mg%). Increased values were observed in the number of leukocytes (9.55 ± 0.09 versus 7.23 ± 0.04 x103), creatinine (2.11 ± 0.03 versus 1.3 ± 0.01 mg%) and bilirubin (0.63 ± 0.01 versus 0.42 ± 0.03 mg%), whereas no change was observed in the values of erythrocyte and magnesium indicators.

Keywords: biochemical indicators; food ration; lameness; supplement; vitamin H

Date published: 2017-04-28