When a cow goes down with milk fever, it can be a time-consuming and stressful task to get her to recover.
Treatment costs can be high, but the more significant financial impact is in the lost production from both clinical cases (the ones we can see) and sub-clinical cases (the ones that don’t show any signs or symptoms).
Each cow that is treated for milk fever in fact costs over $2,6001 in milk production losses from both the clinical cow, plus the 10-15 subclinical cows that are also affected by low blood calcium.
When a cow has milk fever she is “down” because she cannot contract her muscle. This inability to contract smooth muscle increases the risk of:
- difficult calvings: the cow cannot contract the smooth muscle to push the calf out
- retained foetal membranes: the cow cannot contract smooth muscle to push the placenta out
- increased risk of mastitis: the cow cannot contract the teat sphincter, meaning more chance of environmental pathogens entering the teat canal.
Preventing milk fever is not only cost effective but it is also an important part of farm sustainability, as animal health and milk production all contribute to ‘Animal Efficiency’, a key area of farm’s Scope 3 emissions.
There are many factors that contribute to milk fever. Energy, protein, magnesium, calcium, phosphorous, DCAD (dietary cation anion difference) and vitamin D all play a role. This can make it difficult to decide which type and quantity of feeds and mineral supplements are required in the springer diet.
Solution at hand
Thankfully there is a nutrition support service that comes with Nutritech’s tried and proven NutriMin® Springer Cow Balancer range. This free-of- charge technical support has helped many New Zealand farm businesses significantly reduce their incidence of milk fever.
NutriMin® Springer Cow Balancer contains 14 ingredients in one bag. This easy to use supplement has been formulated to address the range of dietary imbalances that can occur in springer diets. There are several options which ensures the right product is used for the right reason. For example NutriMin® Springer Cow HiMag addresses those diets that require more magnesium, while DanMix® Springer Cow Balancer provides a convenient loose lick option.
There is also the ability to customise, adding valuable components such as Levucell® SC live yeast to reduce the risk of rumen acidosis challenges during transition, or Rumensin™ 20% MillMix™ as an aid in the prevention of ketosis. All products in the NutriMin® Springer Cow Balancer range contain quality trace elements and Melofeed® primary antioxidant to support cow immune function, hoof health and udder health at calving.
For more information on preventing milk fever in your herd, talk to your local Technical Sales Representative or visit your Farm Source store.
1 Values calculated assuming a $7.80/kgMS payout, a replacement cow value of $1800, a production level of 450kgMS/cow, a 280 day lactation and DairyNZ data on milk production losses associated with clinical and sub-clinical milk fever.