Keen Holstein breeders have been realising greater herd performance with thanks to the use of a cattle bolus and a calf bolus.
Owen and Eileen O’Sullivan milk a spring-calving herd of 100 cows in Co. Kerry, Ireland. The Currow City pedigree Holstein herd averages 8,000 litres at 600 kgs of milk solids per cow. Owen is an active member of the Kerry Holstein Friesian Breeders Club. He supplies milk to Kerry Coop, and his herd is 100% North American genetics. The TMR diet for this high yielding herd includes silage, straw, home grown forage maize and a mineral vitamin supplement. Owen inseminates cows for six weeks and then uses Hereford bulls to get the remainder of the herd in calf. All male calves and female Herefords are kept for 12 months and then sold as stores.
The benefits of using a cattle bolus
For 4 years [as at 2019] the farm has bolused twice a year – at drying-off and pre-breeding.
“Since using Tracesure Cattle with copper, my cows have healthy coats and milk fever is no longer a problem. “Retained afterbirths, especially in twin-births, is a thing of the past”, says Owen.
Owen continues: “We have also noticed stronger standing heats which have certainly led to a tighter calving pattern. My calves seem more vigorous at birth and we have had no outbreaks of scours for the past three years”.
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The benefits of using a calf bolus
Calves are bolused with ANIMAX Tracesure Calf with Copper at weaning and then again on the same day as the cows are dried off.
“I choose Tracesure Calf with Copper for better performance at grass with less need to feed more concentrates. Calves will then hit their target weight gain of 1.5kg a day more quickly without compromising the cow condition score.”
ANIMAX Tracesure Calf is ideally suited to bridge the energy gap of dairy heifer calves at weaning, because they supplement for six months. This is vitally important to the performance of calves as this can be a stressful period in their young lives.
