--- title: Here’s why you should not ignore subclinical hypocalcemia description: In this blog, we share our insights on subclinical hypocalcemia in dairy cows and how to prevent it. image: https://info.kemin.com/hubfs/Hubspot%20banner_blog%20hypocalcemia_1348x236px-2.jpg --- [![Logo Kemin](https://info.kemin.com/hubfs/LLP/Logos/Logo-Kemin.svg) ](https://lifelonglearningtool.kemin.com) Menu Here’s why you should not ignore subclinical hypocalcemia Category: Ruminant By Kemin Animal Nutrition and Health on 16 October 2020   We all know that dry cows should be moved to the close-up pen before their due date, but where does this recommendation come from? For a lactating cow to be successful, she needs to be able to mobilize calcium from her bones. This process can take 10 to 15 days. Without adequate time to prepare for lactation, milk fever can be a major issue. By changing the diets provided during the close-up period, not only are we allowing time for the cow to begin to mobilize calcium, she also needs time for her rumen to adapt to the forages and higher energy diets which are essential to absorb nutrients and prevent problems after calving. **Today’s biggest concern with pre-calving phase** Today’s concern is not actually clinical disease and its treatment cost, but instead focuses on “subclinical metabolic disorders” which affect you very badly. Metabolic disorder i.e. subclinical hypocalcemia (SCH) is considered as “a gateway disease” because it is associated with increased risk of periparturient problems that have long-term consequences to production, reproduction, and survival. Research findings (Reinhardt *et al*., 2011) clearly indicate that cows are more susceptible to hypocalcemia as the lactation number increases. **Subclinical hypocalcemia effects beyond milk fever**   In 2014, Martinez and coworkers studied the impact of subclinical hypocalcemia beyond milk fever. They induced SCH through 5% ethylene glycol tetra acetic acid (intravenous infusion) treatment for 24 hours. They reported that SCH significantly (* P<0.01) reduced dry matter intake, increased non esterified fatty acids (NEFA) concentration, reduced rumen contractions and decreases neutrophil functions as compared to Normocalcemic cows. Martinez *et. al.* (2012) also studied the effect of normocalcemia / SCH and its effects on metritis incidences when a cow is in a high-risk situation. A high risk situation was described as a cow being diagnosed with dystocia, twins, still born or retained foetal membranes. Normocalcemic cows in a high-risk situation showed 20% incidences of metritis, whereas subclinical hypocalcemic cows showed 77.8% incidences of metritis in the similar high-risk situation. Discover the root cause of subclinical hypocalcemia and its control measures in our download.  [![Read more](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/257852/4ee720e6-57ce-4cbc-a7fb-df6740494d2c.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/257852/4ee720e6-57ce-4cbc-a7fb-df6740494d2c) ### Also interesting [ ### Dairy Vision 2023: Turning animal's productivity challenges into opportunities Today, as a member of the animal protein industry you are facing several challenges. Often conflicting challenges of consumer ... ** Read more ](https://info.kemin.com/blog/dairy-vision-2023) [ ### Does it matter if your cow’s diet is cationic or anionic? Today, as a member of the animal protein industry you are facing several challenges. Often conflicting challenges of consumer ... ** Read more ](https://info.kemin.com/blog/cationic-or-anionic) [ ### Increase your profitability with amino acids Today, as a member of the animal protein industry you are facing several challenges. Often conflicting challenges of consumer ... ** Read more ](https://info.kemin.com/blog/increase-profitability) [![logo-white](https://info.kemin.com/hs-fs/hubfs/KAE/identity/logos/logo-white.png?width=172&height=54&name=logo-white.png "logo-white")](https://www.kemin.com) - [![](https://info.kemin.com/hubfs/KAE/social/icons/social-icon-facebook-kemintheme.png)](https://www.facebook.com/KeminIndustries) - [![](https://info.kemin.com/hubfs/KAE/social/icons/social-icon-twitter-kemintheme.png)](https://twitter.com/KeminInd) - [![](https://info.kemin.com/hubfs/KAE/social/icons/social-icon-linkedin-kemintheme.png)](https://www.linkedin.com/company/kemin-industries/?trk=similar-companies_org_image) © Kemin Industries, Inc. and its group of companies 2026 all rights reserved. ® ™ Trademarks of Kemin Industries, Inc., USA Certain statements may not be applicable in all geographical regions. Product labeling and associated claims may differ based upon government requirements. ![](https://px.ads.linkedin.com/collect/?pid=1491378&fmt=gif)