High-yielding dairy cows face welfare challenges from the metabolic demands of modern milk production, requiring careful management to prevent metabolic disease and maintain health.
The welfare of high-yielding dairy cows is challenged by the metabolic demands placed on their bodies by modern milk production. The systematic selection for high milk yield has produced animals whose physiology is pushed to its limits, with the inevitable consequence that disease rates are higher than in lower-yielding relatives. Metabolic diseases including ketosis, milk fever, and displaced abomasum cause acute suffering and reduce long-term health. The chronic negative energy balance of early lactation causes body condition loss, immune suppression, and reproductive failure. The productive life of high-yielding cows is often short, as the physiological demands accumulate over successive lactations.