THE VALUE OF PROBIOTICS IN CALF HEALTH By Jeff Hostetter, Product Manager
In the past, some have looked at probiotics as a modern day “Sagwa.” But as more and more research is published, it’s becoming apparent how essential probiotics are to maintain a healthy herd, especially in the young calves. Probiotics are defined as live microorganisms, which, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host. Their main purpose is to enhance intestinal health in five different ways: 1. Encourage development of a healthy microbiota (all of the microorganisms that exist in the GI tract) 2. Prevent harmful pathogens from colonizing the intestine (competitive exclusion) 3. Increase digestive capacity 4. Reduce pH 5. Produce beneficial metabolites Probiotics in the past often contained only one species of bacteria. These probiotics occasionally yielded positive results, but it was variable due to the diversity of the
CONVERTTM
TRI-START JR.
Premier Probiotic Products
A bolus with 20 billion CFU’s of beneficial bacteria from 6 different species.
Probiotics and antibodies to prevent disease in a newborn calf or treat a scouring calf. Available as a calf gel, bolus, or powder.
microbiota. The microbiota can vary greatly from farm to farm and even from calf to calf on the same farm. Early probiotics often did not contain enough quantity and quality of bacteria to produce a benefit. Premier Select Sires offers the newest generation of probiotics that have solved the inconsistencies of the past. They have multiple species of bacteria, contain CFU levels that are the highest in the market, and are manufactured with the highest quality standards in a state of the art facility. Our probiotics have been shown to be a good investment when fed on an everyday basis. They are especially valuable during stressful times such as dehorning, weather changes, transport, antibiotic treatment, and weaning. Antibiotics will kill good and bad bacteria in the GI tract, so it’s important to feed probiotics anytime calves receive antibiotics, even if it’s from pasteurized waste milk. Premier offers several products for the young calf that contain probiotics and that are research-proven to improve their health and growth. As we continue to advance the technology in producing effective probiotics, this costeffective tool can help us to lower morbidity and mortality, reduce antibiotic usage, and improve the health and growth of calves. By achieving those goals, this proactive approach to calf health will give us a more valuable asset that has greater profit potential from more efficient growth and higher milk production.
TRI-MIC WD
A few years ago, my sons found an interesting old glass bottle half-buried in the woods on our property. After a little research, we found it was a bottle that held Kickapoo Indian Sagwa, a compound that claimed to cure anything from constipation to liver problems. Manufactured in the 1880’s, it was sold through traveling medicine shows that were part infomercial, part carnival.
A high-quality, daily-added, water dispersible probiotic that mixes easily into whole milk or milk replacer providing a guaranteed 3 billion CFU’s of beneficial bacteria every day. It contains 6 different species of bacteria. Tri-Mic is contained in all of our milk replacers, Milk Fortifier (a whole milk additive), First 21, and Accel RS .
™CONVERT is a trademark of and manufactured for Agrarian Marketing Corporation® a registered trademark of Agraria Marketing Corporation, Middlebury, IN. Products listed are merely distributed by Select Sires Inc. and manufactured or processed by the company indicated. All claims, representations, and warranties, expressed or implied, are made only by the manufacturer and not by Select Sires Inc. Buyer assumes all responsibility for use, storage and handling of these products.
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