Animal Nutrition
Numerous studies have now shown that feeding colostrum replacer to mimic transition milk has beneficial effects for preweaned calves.
While it’s easy to immediately place blame on your nutritionist for diet related problems, these three problem solving steps need to be taken before you jump to conclusions.
What would you think of a nutrient that improved preweaned calf rate of gain by 33%, yet cost next to nothing? Surely this would be another claim for “foo-foo” dust, correct?
In both human and veterinary medicine, we’re hearing more about the benefits of gut supplements to support health, performance, and well-being.
Incidence rates for displaced abomasum (DA) range from 1% to 6%, and up to 90% of DA’s happen within the first 30 days in milk.
Colostrum’s myriad benefits for calves may be transferrable to an entirely different field: human health. Researchers are discovering the benefits of colostrum in both health nutrition supplements and therapeutic agents.
In these tumultuous times of drought, global unrest, and supply chain disruptions, feed grains may not be as plentiful, available, and affordable as we have traditionally enjoyed.
With no end to the higher feed cost trend in sight, farmers are looking at ways to get the most out of their rations while minimizing wasted feed.
What’s the perfect close-up ration to optimize calf health -- something that’s not too much of this or too little of that, but “just right?”
Feed costs will continue to be the No. 1 expense. Jim Salfer, Extension dairy educator with the University of Minnesota, offers some best practices to help producers lower feed costs.
The livestock production businesses of the future will need to balance much more than the bottom line.
Head to Lancaster County Pennsylvania and the sweet aroma of candy can be smelled on a family dairy farm. Red Knob Dairy has been feeding upcycled Hershey candy waste to their cows for more than a decade.
More dairy heifer raisers are taking a page from the feedlot world these days by utilizing liquid supplements as carriers for vitamins, trace minerals, and feed additives in heifer TMRs.
“Pushing feed is perhaps the simplest and least expensive management strategy dairy operators can implement.”
Spring, summer and fall typically mean higher humidity and fluctuating temperatures. Milk replacer should be stored in areas with controlled temperature and humidity to prevent spoilage.
Supplementing early lactation dairy cow diets with bile acids could provide a pathway to suppressing fatty liver and ketosis, and ultimately boosting milk production and profitability.
Feed additives can be included in dairy cattle diets for a variety of reasons. However, feed additives should not be considered a cornerstone to any farm feeding program.
Could probiotics improve early calf growth? Researchers think so.
Creating a herd where all the individuals are healthy and normal increases your chances of economic success.
Researchers at Virginia Tech University have investigated what effects infusing extra acetate or propionate, or lowering the pH, would have on thermodynamics of VFA in the rumen.
TMR consistency and composition are important to efficient and reliable nutrient delivery in lactating cow rations. But the impact of those factors actually can span much further.
Anti-caking agents make the pellet manufacturing process easier, and can help prevent ground feeds from doming, bridging, and sticking to equipment.
As feed prices currently challenge U.S. livestock producers, Feedipedia can be a resource for incorporating non-traditional feedstuffs into innovative rations.
“The more we understand about how specific nutrition components influence health and performance responses, the more we can support cows in their production cycles.”
Here’s what you need to know about hemp as a feed ingredient for cattle.
Here’s what you need to know about hemp as a feed ingredient for cattle.
Anticipated tight supply and higher prices for vitamin E may require dairy managers and their nutritionists to dial back vitamin E inclusion rates in rations, or seek alternative options.
An esophageal tube feeder can be a lifeline for young calves, delivering colostrum, milk or electrolytes when they are unable to suckle a bottle. But incorrect use of these feeders can be dangerous or even deadly.
Researchers at the Ohio State recently completed a study evaluating how dietary protein and amino acid supplementation influenced milk production during the first three to four weeks of lactation.