Oral probiotics sorting out mastitis issues
Traditionally we have relied on antibiotics to prevent or treat mastitis so using oral doses of probiotics for this sound bizarre. Chris Collier of Probiotic Revolution has been working with farmers for several years to successfully treat and prevent mastitis using a powerful dose of Bovine Boost.
Kaponga farmers John and Donna McCarty have not used any antibiotics for four seasons. “I can’t understand why more farmers don’t do what we do,” says John. “We calve 350 cows and in the first two years we had 25 cows each year with mastitis. Of those, 24 came right – that’s a 95 per cent cure rate.
Treatments
“The one per year that doesn’t come right is culled. It’s a package that we do, – not just a one-off treatment. At drying-off we treat the high somatic cell count cows with Bovine Boost. “Then prior to calving and during lactation we feed BioRumen to the herd. It’s designed to improve feed conversion, but it also provides a reasonable dose of bacteria that helps cow’s immunity.
“Then when we get a clinical case of mastitis, we use a potent dose of Bovine Boost to really fire up their immune system.” Chris recently started working with Brad Payne who runs a 650-cow herd near Cambridge, with most cows starting to calve from the first of May onwards.
“In March my cell counts were getting up to 300,000 so I treated 25 cows that had a cell count of more than 900,000. “In April we started the whole herd on Rumicell in a feed blend, but because I could control individual cow dose rates in my rotary shed the high cell count cows, we had treated with Bovine Boost, got one and a half times the daily dose of Rumicell.
“By early June the high cell count cows were down to around 240,000. We have had a stress-free calving – with only five out of 280 cases of calving mastitis. “At this stage we would normally have had 50 mastitis cases. It’s such a revolutionary way to prevent mastitis and get our cell counts under control.”
Trial
“Sometimes you think that people go to OAD just because they don’t want to feed the calves in the afternoon. I just found on Calf Xtreme they were content, and not particularly interested in the afternoon feed,” Torey said.
“You know on OAD if you have got an issue because everyone should be hungry in the morning. On TAD – even though you are watching your calves – sometimes they do get missed, and you can’t always remember who has had a big drink and who hasn’t. So, it really simplifies that part of my day.”
She says she still goes down to the calf sheds in the afternoon. It just doesn’t take as long.
With an average production in their milking herd of 500kg of milk solids/cow, Torey said she’s also noticed the additional mass in their two-year-olds in the herd since introducing Calf Xtreme, which is giving them confidence amongst mixed aged cows.
“When our heifers calve down, you struggle to pick them in the herd because they are so big,” Torey said. “We watch when we are drafting between herds and we often find that all the heifers go in the first herd, and they dominate. They will all be in the first row – they’re the big dogs. I’m sure that early rumen development is the reason why.”
She said Calf Xtreme has been an addition to their programme they won’t changing anytime soon. “It’s a quick and easy product to use too. A lot of people are conscious that when they want to add something to their calf rearing, they don’t want to add time. This doesn’t.”
Farmers urged to keep animals healthy
The New Zealand Veterinary Association is reminding people to ensure their animals’ vaccinations are up-to-date World Antimicrobial Awareness Week, which usually runs from November 18-24, is an annual reminder to increase people’s understanding of antimicrobial resistance, which happens when viruses, parasites or bacteria change and no longer respond to medicine, making them difficult or impossible to treat.
Vaccinations are a critical tool in preventing drug resistant viruses and bacteria developing and spreading amongst animals and humans. NZVA’s Antimicrobial Resistance Committee chair Mark Bryan says keeping animals up-to-date with their vaccinations is important in preventing them from getting sick and needing antimicrobials.
