Dairy cows face significant metabolic challenges during the different phases of the production cycle. One of their primary issues revolves around meeting the elevated energy demands, encompassing essential maintenance requirements and the energy required for milk production. In this context, monitoring of energy-related blood metabolites along lactation may be useful to detect metabolic disturbances. To date, no study is available on the investigation of putative recursive relationships among energy-related blood metabolites and milk daily energy output. The use of structural equation models presents an innovative approach to enhance our understanding of these complex relationships. This approach allows us to gain a better insight into the metabolic pathways and processes involved in energy metabolism. The findings of this study uncovered recursive relationships between energy-related blood metabolites and daily milk energy output. Grasping these interactions is crucial for developing effective breeding strategies focused on selecting more resistant and resilient cows, which have the capacity to better cope with metabolic distress along lactation.

Read more in the Journal of Animal Science.