September, 2025
Urine pH and Negative DCAD: Don’t Overthink the Science
A negative DCAD ration (-DCAD) is used to prevent post-calving hypocalcemia in dairy cows both at the subclinical level (increased health risk) and at the clinical level (obvious milk fever). Simply put, the -DCAD ration works by feeding the cow disproportionate amounts of negatively charge minerals, especially chlorine, for about three weeks pre-calving.