Subacute rumen acidosis in Italian dairy herds

Subacute rumen acidosis (SARA) represent one of the
most important metabolic disorders in intensive
dairy farms that affects rumen fermentations, animal
welfare, productivity and profitability. A practical
need for Veterinarians and Food practitioner, is to
have a simple and economic method of diagnosis of
SARA, in order to implement in a timely manner the
appropriate corrective diet, eliminate the causes of
arrival of this disorder and avert the danger of
progress in the same very high levels. In response
to these requests, the aim of this work, was to lead
three different studies related to each other but,
in order to evaluate the occurrence of subacute
rumen acidosis in intensive Italian dairy herds to
determine the relationship among diet composition,
ruminal pH and short chain fatty acids (SCFA)
concentration, to evaluate the effect of the
SARA on some blood parameters
in lactating dairy cows and finally to evaluate the
effects of rumenocentesis on the health and welfare
status of lactating dairy cows, evaluated by
physical examination, blood analysis, milk
production and superficial temperature on the area
of rumenocentesis.