Articles | Page 4 of 4 | Agvance Nutrition

DAIRY GOATS. THE HIGH PERFORMANCE RUMINANT

It is tempting, given the limited research around goat nutrition to assume a goat’s nutritional requirements fit somewhere between that of sheep and cattle. This assumption would be a mistake. When it comes to mineral nutrition goats have very different requirements.

Based on a goat’s production level when related to body weight and feed intake, these small ruminants are probably better compared to the ruminant equivalent of an F1 racing car. Just as you wouldn’t run a high performance car on low octane fuel, you shouldn’t feed your goat the same way as you would cattle and sheep. Goats have different and very specific nutritional requirements. If these requirements are not met, the animal will not perform to its full potential, and worse still will be subject to a higher level of disease.

The interesting thing about goats is that their requirement is both higher and lower depending on the element in question. While their milk is in many ways more nutritious than that of a dairy cow, nature has at the same time designed the animal to survive under very different conditions, and on a very different diet from that of a cow.

SO WHAT ARE THE MINERAL REQUIREMENTS OF DAIRY GOATS?

Lets start with one of the key macro elements, phosphorous. Goats typically have a lower requirement for phosphorous to that of dairy cattle. They seem to be better at recycling it and while they have higher levels in their saliva, losses during rumination are lower than that of a cow.

In contrast calcium requirements are quite high and should be set at least twice that of phosphorous in the diet.

FACIAL ECZEMA PREVENTION

Facial eczema is a cause of major production losses in dairy herds.

When moisture, high ground temperatures and humidity all occur together, the offending fungus present all year round becomes a problem. Under these conditions the fungus grows rapidly and spores are produced containing the toxin Sporidesmin which damages the liver and prevents removal of chlorophyll break down products from the body. This ultimately causes photosensitisation or ‘sunburn’ when the cow is exposed to sunlight. This is usually seen 10 days after exposure to the spores. The first thing you may notice is a drop in milk production and affected cows may seek shade, have swollen legs or brisket, fat ears, red skin or burnt teats.

KEY STRATEGIES TO FE PREVENTION:
1) GRAZING

• Spore counting & then selectively grazing safe paddocks – obtain spore count information from your local vet or get spore counts done on pasture samples from your own farm and send them to your vet for testing
• Avoid hard grazing of paddocks as the toxin is concentrated at the bottom of the sward
• No topping of grass as this allows build-up of leaf litter
• Provide alternative feeds (maize, silage, brassica crops, hay) during high risk times

2) ZINC DOSING

Zinc forms a stable complex with sporidesmin preventing damage to the liver. For best protection zinc dosing should be started 2-3 weeks before spore counts start to rise (December – January.)

HEAT STRESS PREVENTION

TOUCHY COWS, SUMMER PRODUCTION DROPPING OFF?

Typically during the summer months when temperatures and humidity levels are high, dairy cows face health challenges. Rye grass staggers occur from late November until the end of April, but tend to be worst from late January to early February, when we experience hot, dry spells followed by rain. Heat stress also becomes an issue where the cow’s ability to lose heat by sweating and breathing declines owing to the high relative humidity levels. Natural grass toxins which form when plants come under environmental stress, can also affect the animals grazing them.

Are your cows becoming hot and bothered this summer? Settle them down with Ascocool seaweed extract, a fully water soluble seaweed extract that helps to calm cows in the heat of summer.

Read further research here

WHY USE SEAWEED EXTRACT?

Agvance’ concentrated Seaweed Extract – called Ascocool can assist in alleviating these summer time health issues. It originates from the North Atlantic brown seaweed called Ascophyllum Nodosum where research trials have shown that this particular seaweed helps in the following ways:
1) Binds naturally occurring toxins & moulds that build up in grasses & stored feed under hot, dry humid conditions, causing heat stress and problems in central nervous system
2) Increases immunity
3) Potential to act as a powerful prebiotic owing to poly & mono-saccharides being present that allow for more efficient breakdown of feed
4) Contains a wide range of amino acids

Check out our Ascocool brochure here

Salmonella in Dairy Cows | Agvance Nutrition New Zealand

SALMONELLA IN NZ DAIRY COWS

Salmonella link to coarse grade and palleted Magnesium Oxide in Feeds
Over the past few weeks, a number of vets have been reporting Salmonella outbreaks on dairy farms. Our investigations on some of these farms indicate that these outbreaks seem to correlate to use of pelleted Magnesium Oxide being fed in palm kernel based feeds. Although one of the farmers we interviewed, reported some salmonella before feeding the PKE containing the coarsely ground magnesium oxide, he reported that after introducing the feed the disease took off. On discussions with some in the feed industry it would seem that coarsely ground magnesium supplements may have been widely used throughout the feed mill industry over the past 2 seasons. This magnesium is a little different to that used in the past and the pelleted magnesium associated with the outbreaks of salmonella reported in Taranaki. Prior to the last two seasons this coarsely ground form of magnesium oxide was formerly only sold into the fertiliser market and has large particle sizing, ranging from 2mm – 5mm. We believe the same risk factors are involved as those reported in the Taranaki outbreak of 2011 at that time associated to a prilled magnesium oxide product used in those feeds.

A case controlled study was performed in 2011 – 2012 to identify herd-level risk factors for acute Salmonellosis. It is our belief that the most recent outbreak has many of the same issues in common with the earlier outbreak. This summary, identified a number of risk factors that contributed to this sudden outbreak of the infection across a large number of herds, most particularly highlighted was the strong connection between feeding granulated magnesium supplements and prevalence of the disease.

click here to read study

CONTRIBUTING FACTORS IDENTIFIED IN THIS REPORT WERE AS FOLLOWS:

1) Continuous feed troughs – consumption of supplementary feed from shared troughs varies amongst individual cows where dominant cows will consume more than their allotted daily feed allowance, with submissive cows consuming less. Fluctuations in feed intake could affect the rumen microflora balance, allowing salmonella to multiply and cause infection. Reduce risk by using individual troughs.

Customizer Minerals Formulation Tool | Agvance Nutrition New Zealand

CUSTOMIZER MINERAL FORMULATION TOOL

Innovation through customisation

WHAT IS CUSTOMIZER?

Customizer is an innovative, powerful computer program from Agvance that enables vets and animal nutritionists to formulate custom mineral and vitamin blends and premixes, specific to a customer’s herd requirements. In the past, blood and liver biopsy results have been supplied to farmers with simple recommendations to supplement the elements found deficient, without any professional advice on what type of element or which product would be most suitable. Customizer takes this guesswork out of animal nutrition by allowing qualified people to quickly and easily formulate comprehensive nutrient formulations specific to any situation. Reports are also generated giving detailed information on each element used so that the farmer knows why each mineral is being recommended and how it will benefit their animals.

Once a blend is confirmed and been approved by all parties, each formulation is blended and bagged. Bags are well labelled indicating ingredients, daily dose rate and other relevant information.

FACTS & BENEFITS ABOUT USING CUSTOMIZER:

1 Utilize expertise – only qualified vets or animal nutritionists have access to the program and are able to formulate blends
2 Custom blends – target the specific deficiencies that may be affecting the health of a herd
3 Premixes – a feed module within the program that accurately calculates mineral requirements for a transition cow
4 Accurate reporting – keeps accurate records so that you can track changes from season to season and make any necessary changes
5 Easy and quick to use
6 Total flexibility – wide range of minerals, vitamins & additives to choose from
7 Highly Soluble blends – easy to administer through water, feeds & drenches
8 Access to a library of information on Customizer itself

CALF REARING STRATEGIES

Calf rearing good practice ensures healthy, happy calves!
Approximately 1.5 million calves are reared in New Zealand each year – 1 million being dairy heifers that will become the future herd replacements. How these calves are raised will affect how they grow and at what weight they enter the herd. It is essential to give such calves a great start to life so as to ensure a long productive, healthy milking life. Heifers that reach target weights make successful milking cows and raising them well starts from the day they are born.

COLOSTRUM

Within the first 24 hours of being born, all calves, including bobbies must receive adequate fresh colostrum or a colostrum substitute and this should continue for at least the first 4 days of life because it will protect against disease by fighting infections within the gut. The calf should drink at least 2 litres of fresh gold colostrum during the first 6 hours of life, and then again at 12 hours to get protective antibodies known as immunoglobulins as they are born with poorly developed immune systems. This process is most effective in the first 24 hours after birth and is known as ‘passive transfer.’ Failure to do this, known as Failure of Passive Transfer (FPT) to absorb enough immunoglobulins in these first critical 24 hours, can make a calf susceptible to disease, death and long term reductions in animal productivity. Past studies have found that 10 – 40% of calves are deficient in colostrum which can result in higher morbidity rates and slower growth rates through to 14 weeks of age.

REASONS FOR FPT

FPT is fairly common with NZ studies indicating a 33% prevalence at various intervals during the spring calving period. A number of reasons why calves get FPT are the following: a) the colostrum has inadequate immunoglobulin levels, b) feeding insufficient volumes of colostrum, c) feeding takes place too late after birth and d) bacteria especially Coliforms contaminate the colostrum at harvest, during storage or at feeding.

TESTING & PREVENTING FPT

To combat FPT, it is imperative that you test your calves to make sure that they are getting enough high quality colostrum within the first 24 hours of life. There are a number of ways to measure and prevent FPT:

THE MERITS OF BORON

Article by Robin Boom. One problem farmers face today in relation to fertilisers is just whose advice to follow, since opinions between scientists, independent consultants, farm advisers and different fertiliser company reps is so wide and varied, and when it comes to the application of boron we have a classic example.
I personally believe the non-application of boron on many farms is costing farmers dearly in the areas of stock health and poor pasture production, particularly from clovers. Although there is debate over the primary function of boron in plants, it is known that boron deficiency reduces the ability of root cells to absorb phosphorus, chlorine and rubidium (used to mimic potassium). This will result in stunted clovers, not only above the soil, but also below as far as the root mass is concerned, thus reducing the plants’ ability to exploit the soil.

Responses to boron become most marked when all the other elements are in good supply. Farms which have regularly received good applications of lime and potassic super, yet on which pasture growth is not really firing, could well benefit from boron. A pot trial at Ruakura showed production responses to boron on a boron deficient soil near Taupo in red clover of up to 107% increase, 74% in lucerne and 43% increase in white clover (NZ Journal of Agricultural Research 1983, p. 197-203).

Boron has also been associated with calcium deficiency in plants and animals. Boron appears to be a catalyst for the absorption and transport of calcium. When cows go down with milk fever, Calcium Boroglucanate (calcium, boron and glucose) is often used as a remedy, and this contains 4% Boric Acid (soluble boron). On one of the Caribbean islands, the high incidence of arthritis was attributed to a very low boron status in the soil. Interestingly enough, New Zealanders also have one of the highest incidences of arthritis in the world. In apple trees, bitter pit, which is caused by a low calcium level, has been corrected through boron applications. Low calcium levels in pasture plants can sometimes be attributed to the low levels of boron, even though the calcium level is good in the soil.

Boron deficiency has also been linked to poor seed and flower formation in grasses and clovers. In another pot trial at Ruakura in 1983, the affect of boron on seed production from red and white clover cultivars and lucerne was tested on a known boron deficient soil. The results were that seed production was multiplied many times with the addition of boron. In red clovers and lucerne, this was caused by a big increase in flower numbers, whereas for white clovers the increase was in the number of seeds per flower (NZ Journal of Experimental Agriculture 1983). This increase in seed production can be very significant for permanent pasture where a lot of natural reseeding takes place.

Wintering and spring mineral requirements for dairy cows | Agvance Nutrition New Zealand

WINTER AND SPRING MINERAL REQUIREMENTS

Winter, a good time to identify mineral deficiencies and plan for the next season.

Winter is a good time to talk to your local vet about testing a group of cows from your herd for trace mineral deficiencies. Minerals worth checking in the blood are selenium, B12, iodine, magnesium and zinc. Iodine and zinc can often be variable, however if the average is low it is worth supplementing. It is worth also checking copper with a liver test rather then the blood as that is where copper is stored. These days with large amounts of PKE being fed, livers can often look very high, high copper levels in the liver can be a good early warning of impending build-up to potentially toxic levels.

If the cows are being fed brassica’s through winter and into spring, it will be very important to ensure cows have sufficient iodine, selenium, and copper. Cattle being feed fodder beet at more than 2 kilograms should be receiving some supplementary phosphorous in order to ensure they do not suffer phosphorous related metabolic disease in the spring. A phosphorous blood test pre calving is a good idea to ensure there is sufficient phosphorous levels at calving. Once deficiencies are identified it is a simple matter to introduce an Agvance balanced trace mineral blend into the system. These blends can be dosed through drinking water and at this time of year it is also worth considering putting at least some of the trace element formulation in through the supplementary feeds to make sure enough mineral gets into the cow as they are not drinking as much.

Most farmers will be using some magnesium oxide in their supplementary feeds during the winter/spring period. It is an easy job to incorporate the trace mineral blend into the much bulkier magnesium oxide, then in the case of a feed out wagon – layering the blend evenly across the top of the feed, or blending the combination into feeds where a mixer wagon is in use. Agvance can formulate complete mineral premixes for any herd under any feeding regime. Working with your vet or one our field agents, using our “Customizer” software, we can enter the different feed components and their levels, decide whether it is to be a transition, early lactation, mid lactation diet mix. These blends will include the macro minerals such as magnesium, calcium, and phosphorous, along with the ideal levels of trace elements required to balance the diet. Using some of the industry standard blends can lead to your cows falling short on some of the key minerals they most require.

Farmers break feeding fodder beet can feed minerals in a loose lick mix, which is poured into cut down drums and placed on the edge of the new break each day. Alternatively, if cows are being fed in the form of baled silage as well, phosphorous, magnesium and trace minerals can be liquefied and poured into the baled silage. A blend made from the correct mineral forms has the ability to deliver good levels of mineral elements to the parts of the body where those minerals are most needed. Poorly formulated mineral blends, owing to the fact the mineral is not bound to a protein may store well in the liver and some other organs that typically mop free minerals in inorganic form, but they will often be poorly translocated to other very important cells of the body. Such cells that make up the keratin layers of the hoof, udder cells, the reproductive system, the immune system, the central nervous system, are areas of the body where elements such as copper and zinc glycine are most necessary.

DRYING OFF DAIRY COWS

With winter approaching you will no doubt be giving some thought to what date the cows should be dried off.

SETTING THE DATE:

Most of you will consider a number of factors when deciding on the exact date and approach used. Among things that will be considered will be, available feed, current cow condition, as well as expected calving spread. Some of you will choose to dry the whole herd off in one go, others will choose to dry off based on current condition, lighter cows first, heavier cows later, or if the calving dates are well spread, the decision may be based more around expected calving date.

DIFFERENT TECHNIQUES:

Many farmers may consider drying off their cows gradually by extending the time between milking’s, however expert opinion seems to favour, simply ceasing to milk the cow causing sudden dry off, as it is thought that this approach minimises risk of udder infection.

THINGS TO CONSIDER: