Restoring calcium levels after a cow gives birth is essential. She needs the proper amount of calcium to help her bounce back, as well as vitamin D to help maximize calcium absorption.
But how do you know the calcium supplement you are giving her is meeting her needs? If you could use a calcium supplement that offered benefits in addition to reducing hypocalcemia, would you?
A recent research study shows there are many benefits to using RumiLife® CAL24™ nutritional supplement.1 The following depicts health events reported for the first 30 days in milk (%) during this research trial. Even with an already low hypocalcemia incident rate (1-2%), the trial herd saw additional benefits such as fewer retained placentas and mastitis incidents, as well as increased reproductive performance.
Milk fever incidents
RumiLife® CAL24™ significantly reduces hypocalcemia in the first 30 days of milk.
Reproductive performance
In this herd (with a 60-day voluntary waiting period), use of RumiLife® CAL24™ improved overall reproductive performance.
Retained placenta incidents
Cows given RumiLife® CAL24™ experienced fewer incidents of retained placentas.
Mastitis incidents
Incidents of mastitis were lower among cows given RumiLife® CAL24™ compared to the control group.
Value of RumiLife® CAL24™ in this herd
This mixed Jersey/Holstein herd had almost no milk fever or other metabolic diseases, excellent milk production and a very high first service conception rate.
Even so, the provision of supplemental calcium, magnesium and vitamin D from a highly bioavailable source at calving surprisingly reduced retained placentas, numerically increased milk yield, and improved reproductive performance.
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Retained Placenta | 3.4 fewer cases/100 calvings |
| Milk fever | 0.9 fewer cases/100 calvings |
| Milk yield | 0.86 pounds/cow/day |
| Synchronization protocol | 0.16 fewer services/conception |
| Pregnancies | 3.1 more cows/100 pregnant by 100 DIM |
| Days open | 4.1 fewer days open |
What is the return on investment per cow?
The actual monetary value of these benefits may fluctuate with season and location but are substantial. Given the already impressive numbers from this trial herd, the amount this Texas dairy could save per cow with the use of RumiLife® CAL24™ is worth noting (the figure below is based on USA market rates and prices). Imagine the amount of money that could be saved on a dairy with lower reproductive performance and higher incidents of milk fever, retained placentas and mastitis cases!
Do you have her covered during this critical period?
Using RumiLife® CAL24™ after freshening can not only reduce hypocalcemia but also has added benefits to ensure she is a productive member of your herd for generations!
Plus, the unique ingredients allow you to feed both boluses (one application) right away, so you can delete that second bolus reminder and spend more time with those who matter!
Prevention today means a productive tomorrow.
Add the only once-and-done calcium solution to your fresh cow protocols today.
1 Research Parameters
The study took place October 8, 2020 through November 4, 2021 on a dairy located south of Dallas, Texas, milking around 3,500 cows. This herd consists of approximately 40% Jersey, 40% Jersey x Holstein and 20% Holstein cows. Data collection was continued until January 20, 2022 to capture health and reproduction results. Cows were alternated between the control and test group as they calved, with 1,482 test cows each receiving a single application of 2 RumiLife® CAL24 boluses shortly after calving. Contact your GENEX representative for the full research paper.
2 Liang, D., Arnold, L.M., Stowe, C.J., Harmon, R.J. and Bewley, J.M., 2017. Estimating US dairy clinical disease costs with a stochastic simulation model. Journal of dairy science, 100(2), pp.1472-1486.
3 Olynk, N.J. and Wolf, C.A., 2008. Economic analysis of reproductive management strategies on US commercial dairy farms. Journal of dairy science, 91(10), pp.4082-4091.
4 Dolecheck, K. and Bewley, J. https://afs.ca.uky.edu/files/how_much_are_you_losing_from_extra_days_open.pdf. Accessed January, 2022.
* Van Saun and Sniffen, 2014. Values are for all lactations.
** Research trial. Values are for lactations 2 and higher.
