For a long period of time, the Storan family were having continuous problems with their herd at calving time. In particular, with heifers calving at grass during the Autumn months. Cow boluses provided the answer.
Damien Storan, Dairy farmer and dairy specialist for ANIMAX explains.
“We had problems with retained cleanings, and our calving process was especially slow. Calves were born with very little energy, and drowsy appearance, making feeding their first and most important feed very difficult”.
“As soon as we introduced the ANIMAX Tracesure Cattle with Copper bolus to our system, we noticed significant improvements in our stock. The calving process is much shorter, and cleaning out is much better. Calves are also much more vigorous, and up and eager to drink by themselves, which makes the whole process of feeding new born calves so much easier”.
The copper difference
Copper is essential to enzyme function and positive weight gain.
Copper can either be deficient in the diet (primary deficiency) or ‘bound’ by antagonists (secondary deficiency), or a combination of both. Soil, water and certain diets can all contain these antagonists which reduce the availability of the copper salt.
Copper in the form of a metal or elemental is not available to the animal. Copper needs to be as a salt, for example copper oxide.
ANIMAX Tracesure® with copper includes a second bolus comprising of copper oxide needles manufactured in-house to both medicinal and nutritional standards to ensure the copper is available to the ruminant. This bolus can be given at the same time as the cobalt iodine, and selenium bolus.
How it works:
- The copper bolus or capsule is administered down the animal’s throat, at the same applicator as the waxed–bolus (if applied).
- The copper bolus or capsule dissolves within one hour of application, releasing copper oxide needles into the rumen.
- The copper oxide needles then lodge between the finger–like projections in the folds of the rumen wall, for up to 3 months.
- The copper oxide needles displace from the rumen folds over time and enter the abomasum (the fourth stomach).
- The low pH of the abomasum dissolves the copper stores which gradually deplete over 6 months.
- The particles are then transported from the small intestine into the blood stream to the liver where they are stored.
- The liver acts as a depot from which copper is slowly released to body cells and used in the enzymes.
Speak to Damien about his experience with the Tracesure cow boluses
