Maintenance of proper energy balance during transition period in dairy animals for improved performances

Energy balance may be understood as the balance between energy intake by the animals in form of food or any external source and the energy lost through various physiological mechanisms including digestion, activities, etc. If this energy balance goes negative due to more energy expenditure than energy intake, the animals’ production, reproduction, health, behavior and other performances get adversely affected. On the other hand, if this energy balances in on higher side, the animals may become over conditioned (fat) which is also not desired. Both under conditioning and over conditioning i.e., deposition of energy reserves in the body (majorly deposited fat) of dairy animals resulted in poor and compromised production, reproduction and health performances. The maintenance of proper energy balance in dairy animals during per parturition time and initial lactation period becomes more important as there is dramatic change in demand of energy and nutrients in animals’ body. Furthermore, animals show a high decline in feed consumption during per parturition time and initial lactation period which elevates imbalance in energy balance thus, cause negative energy balance in dairy animals. Hence, proper management practices should be practiced which helps in maintaining energy balance may reduce decline in performance of dairy animals