Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service
Abstract
Dairy Research, 2011 is known as Dairy Day, 2011Inflammation has been proposed as a contributor to metabolic disorders in transition dairy
cows. The purpose of this experiment was to determine whether a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory
drug, sodium salicylate (SS), benefits transition cows. At calving, 78 cows (primiparous,
n = 39; second lactation, n = 28; ≥3 lactations, n = 11) were assigned alternately to either a
control (CON) or SS treatment for 7 days and remained on study until 21 days postpartum.
Treatment was administered via individual water bowls at a concentration of 2.5 g/L, delivering
a mean of 183 ± 8.5 g/day SS during the 7 days of treatment. Milk yields were collected daily
and milk samples were collected twice weekly. Data were analyzed using mixed models with
repeated measures over time. No treatment effects were detected for daily feed or water intake.
Milk yield for third or greater lactation cows tended to increase (P < 0.10) with SS at the end
of the trial (days 19 to 20). Milk protein content increased (P < 0.05) with SS in first- and
second-lactation cows during week 1 and milk urea nitrogen (MUN) decreased (P < 0.01) with
SS. Milk fat content increased (P < 0.05) with SS in weeks 2 and 3 postpartum. A 10% increase
(P < 0.05) in energy-corrected milk (ECM) was observed for SS cows during week 3. Metritis
incidence increased (P < 0.01) with SS in third or greater lactation cows, but no other effects on
disease incidence were detected. In contrast to our hypothesis that SS treatment would decrease
transition disorder incidences, SS treatment seemed to promote increased milk fat content and
milk energy output during early lactation with no effect on total disorder incidence
