Figure 1

Blood serum metabolite profiles of postpartum cows and heifers. (A) The average weekly based concentration of NEFA for different metabolic status of population of postpartum cows early post-calving (weeks 5–10). (B) The average weekly based concentration of ß-hydroxybutyrate for different metabolic status of postpartum cows (weeks 5–10). (C) The average concentration of NEFAs per OPU session for control heifers. (D) The average concentration of ß-hydroxybutyrate per OPU session for heifers. The dashed lines in all graphs indicate the threshold level of metabolites to categorize animals as having negative or positive energy balance. Always negative cows: cows that have high concentration of NEFA and ß-hydroxybutyrate throughout the experimental period weeks 5–10. Transient cows: cows that have high concentration of NEFA and ß-hydroxybutyrate at week 5–6 and reduce to very low level starting from weeks 7–8 until week 10. Always positive cows: cows that have low concentration of NEFA and ß-hydroxybutyrate throughout the experimental period week 5–10.