Dairy Cow Milk Fever Prevention and Management

Milk fever at calving causes hypocalcaemia and collapse in dairy cows. Preventive nutritional management significantly reduces incidence and associated welfare costs.

Key Facts

Milk fever affects 5-10% of dairy cows around calving without preventive management
It results from failure to mobilise calcium fast enough as lactation begins
Multiparous cows and high-yielding breeds are at greatest risk
Subclinical hypocalcaemia without recumbency affects up to 50% of cows in some herds
Anionic salts in the dry cow diet acidify urine and prime calcium mobilisation systems

Welfare Considerations

Cows with clinical milk fever are recumbent and unable to rise, causing distress and muscle damage from prolonged lateral recumbency. Without treatment, progression to coma and death occurs within 12 hours. Intravenous calcium borogluconate is curative when administered promptly. Subclinical hypocalcaemia reduces immune function, increases metritis and mastitis risk and impairs fertility — causing chronic welfare impacts that go unmeasured. Nutritional prevention through anionic salts, dietary calcium manipulation and vitamin D supplementation effectively reduces both clinical and subclinical incidence.

What You Can Do

Implement a vet-designed transition cow programme targeting hypocalcaemia prevention
Monitor urine pH in dry cows on anionic diets to confirm adequate acidification
Establish a clear farm protocol for treating clinical milk fever within 2 hours of signs
Test herd subclinical hypocalcaemia prevalence using calcium assay in fresh cow blood
Work with your nutritionist to optimise dry cow diet calcium and anion balance