Dairy Cow Metabolic Disease Welfare at Transition

The transition period around calving is the most metabolically challenging phase for dairy cows — milk fever, ketosis, and displaced abomasum cause significant suffering and are largely preventable.

Key Facts

Around 25% of dairy cows experience metabolic disease around calving
Milk fever (hypocalcaemia) causes inability to rise, muscle weakness, and death without treatment
Ketosis causes reduced appetite, weight loss, and can progress to clinical disease
Displaced abomasum requires surgical correction and causes chronic abdominal pain
Most transition disease is preventable through nutrition management in the dry period

Welfare Considerations

Transition metabolic disease causes acute and chronic suffering that is largely preventable. Milk fever causes rapid progression from weakness to recumbency — a cow unable to rise is in significant distress. Untreated hypocalcaemia is fatal within hours. Ketosis causes a sustained reduction in quality of life with reduced appetite and altered behaviour. The economic and welfare cost of transition disease is substantial, yet effective nutritional prevention programmes exist. Investing in dry cow nutrition is one of the highest welfare-return interventions in dairy.

What You Can Do

Advocate for mandatory transition cow monitoring protocols in dairy farm assurance
Support AHDB transition health improvement programmes
Ask dairy retailers what transition disease monitoring standards they require
Choose dairy products from farms with low metabolic disease prevalence records