Clinic of Animal Reproduction, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Theriogenology. 2012 Dec;78(9):2031-8. doi: 10.1016/j.theriogenology.2012.07.024. Epub 2012 Oct 5.
Measurement of body temperature is the most common method for an early diagnosis of sick cows in fresh cow protocols currently used on dairy farms. Thresholds for fever range from 39.4 °C to 39.7 °C. Several studies attempted to describe normal temperature ranges for healthy dairy cows in the early puerperium. However, the definition of a healthy cow is variable within these studies. It is challenging to determine normal temperature ranges for healthy cows because body temperature is usually included in the definition. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to identify factors that influence body temperature in healthy dairy cows early postpartum and to determine normal temperature ranges for healthy cows that calved in a moderate (temperature humidity index: 59.8 ± 3.8) and a hot period (temperature humidity index: 74.1 ± 4.4), respectively, excluding body temperature from the definition of the health status. Furthermore, the prevalence of fever was calculated for both periods separately. A subset of 17 (moderate period) and 15 cows (hot period) were used for analysis. To ensure their uterine health only cows with a serum haptoglobin concentration ≤ 1.1 g/L were included in the analysis. Therefore, body temperature could be excluded from the definition. A vaginal temperature logger that measured vaginal temperature every 10 min was inserted from Day 2 to 10 after parturition. Additionally rectal temperature was measured twice daily. Day in milk (2 to 10), period (moderate and hot), and time of day had an effect on rectal and vaginal temperature. The prevalence of fever (≥ 39.5 °C) was 7.4% and 28.1% for rectal temperature in the moderate and hot period, respectively. For vaginal temperature (07.00 to 11.00 h) it was 10% and 33%, respectively, considering the same threshold and period. This study demonstrates that body temperature in the early puerperium is influenced by several factors (day in milk, climate, time of day). Therefore, these factors have to be considered when interpreting body temperature measures to identify sick cows. Furthermore, the prevalence of fever considering different thresholds is higher during hot than moderate periods. However, even in a moderate period healthy cows can exhibit a body temperature that is considered as fever. This fact clearly illustrates that fever alone should not be considered the decision criterion whether a cow is allocated to an antibiotic treatment, although it is the most important one that is objectively measurable.
体温测量是目前奶牛场使用的新产牛方案中对病牛进行早期诊断的最常用方法。发热的阈值范围为 39.4°C 至 39.7°C。有几项研究试图描述健康奶牛在早期产后期的正常体温范围。然而，在这些研究中，健康奶牛的定义是可变的。由于体温通常包含在健康奶牛的定义中，因此确定健康奶牛的正常体温范围具有挑战性。因此，本研究的目的是确定影响产后早期健康奶牛体温的因素，并为分别在中等（温湿指数：59.8 ± 3.8）和炎热（温湿指数：74.1 ± 4.4）期产犊的健康奶牛确定正常体温范围，排除健康状况定义中的体温。此外，还分别计算了这两个时期的发热患病率。为了分析，从中选择了 17 头（中等期）和 15 头（炎热期）奶牛。为了确保它们的子宫健康，只有血清结合珠蛋白浓度≤1.1g/L 的奶牛才被纳入分析。因此，可以排除体温的定义。从分娩后第 2 天到第 10 天，插入一个每 10 分钟测量一次阴道温度的阴道温度记录器。此外，每天测量两次直肠温度。产犊后天数（2 至 10 天）、时期（中等和炎热）和一天中的时间对直肠和阴道温度有影响。在中等和炎热时期，直肠温度≥39.5°C 的发热患病率分别为 7.4%和 28.1%。对于阴道温度（07.00 至 11.00 小时），考虑到相同的阈值和时期，分别为 10%和 33%。本研究表明，产后期早期的体温受多种因素（产犊后天数、气候、一天中的时间）的影响。因此，在解释体温测量值以识别病牛时，必须考虑这些因素。此外，考虑到不同的阈值，炎热时期的发热患病率高于中等时期。然而，即使在中等时期，健康奶牛也可能表现出被认为是发热的体温。这一事实清楚地表明，发热本身不应该被视为是否给奶牛分配抗生素治疗的决策标准，尽管它是最客观可衡量的最重要标准。
