Dairy Cow Milk Fever: Prevention and Emergency Treatment

Milk fever (hypocalcaemia) is a common, painful, and potentially fatal metabolic disease in dairy cows at calving.

Key Facts

Milk fever affects approximately 5-8% of dairy cows, with highest prevalence in high-yielding older cows.
It occurs when calcium demand for colostrum production exceeds the ability to mobilise skeletal calcium.
Affected cows progress from instability and muscle tremors to recumbency and coma within hours.
IV calcium borogluconate is a highly effective emergency treatment that achieves recovery within 30 minutes.
Subclinical hypocalcaemia (no overt signs) affects up to 50% of multiparous cows and impairs immunity and fertility.
Prepartum dietary management — low dietary cation-anion difference (DCAD) diets — is the most effective preventive strategy.

Welfare Considerations

Milk fever causes acute pain and distress; untreated cows are at risk of bloat, nerve damage, and death. Rapid recognition and treatment within the first hours of recumbency is critical for welfare and survival. Prevention is highly achievable through prepartum nutrition management, oral calcium supplementation around calving, and targeted vitamin D supplementation. Farms should monitor fresh cow calcium status and track milk fever incidence as a welfare indicator.

What You Can Do

Monitor all freshly calved cows closely for the first 24 hours; treat any cow showing unsteadiness or recumbency.
Discuss DCAD-based transition cow nutrition with your vet or nutritionist to reduce milk fever incidence.
Target a herd milk fever incidence below 5%; consistently higher rates indicate a preventive management failure.
Ensure all farm staff are trained to recognise milk fever signs and know the emergency treatment protocol.