2003 Volume 56 Issue 5 Pages 311-315
The feed of 5 postpartum Japanese Black cows was changed from a low-starch ration (day 0) by the addition of 3kg per day of dent- corn silage. As a result of the change, calf fecesbegan showing preliminary signs' of scours between day 1 and day 3. Between day 5 and day 7, these calves suffered from watery white scours. Fat percent in the dams' milk increasedon the morning of the day on which preliminary symptoms developed and on the day on which scours appeared. Total Ca and Mg concentration in all dams' milk was high on the last evening of the preliminary-symptoms period. Milk pH changed remarkably on the day prior to theappearance of white scours. Palmitic and stearic acid in milk fat increased 1 day prior tothe appearance of white scours. Triglyceride and free fatty acid blood levels in calves were lower on the preliminary-symptoms day but returned to original levels 1 day prior to the appearance of white scours. It seems that calf white scours may be associated with lowered fat absorption in the digestive tract resulting from changes in dams' milk constituents. Further, these changes in dam milk constituents may have resulted from changes in the dams' rations.
