Evaluation of the pH in subacute ruminal acidosis (SARA) as diagnostic tool in crossbreed dairy cows in Al-Diwaniyah

Abstract

The objective of this study was to find the relationship of acidity (pH) among following constituents: ruminal fluid, blood, milk, and feces, and evaluating it as an indicator and diagnostic tool for this disease in crossbreed dairy cows in Al-Diwaniyah province. A randomized selection of crossbreed dairy cows in Al-Diwaniyah province in two seasons Winter and Autumn (Sep 2013 – Feb 2014), about 427 total heads, 90 as SARA group and 50 as a control. Our results of mean values of pH in the subacute ruminal acidosis (SARA) group in the ruminal fluid, milk, blood, and fecal samples were (5.22), (6.70), (7.0), and (5.56) respectively, which were different and lowest from the control group. The data obtained were processed statistically and compared together to detect the presence of significance revealed that pH of ruminal fluids and pH of fecal samples took the significant differences between groups (p≤0.05). While there was no significant difference in the milk and blood pH between the control and SARA sets (p≥0.05). Moreover, the study revealed that pH levels were in both rumenocentesis and stomach intubation sets did not have any significant difference (P ≥ 0.05). According to the results, which were confident, can be considering the pH is an important diagnostic tool to identify the SARA in dairy cows.